The Final Four of the Big Dance.
Headlined by a wild comeback from UConn over Duke, the Elite Eight swung between electric and uneven, setting the stage for the Final Four teams still dancing for a national championship.
It took a 19-point comeback by the Huskies to get this far, and they’ve played inconsistently at times, but few can deny Dan Hurley’s insane career track record during March Madness.
They will face off with the Illinois Fighting Illini as 2.5-point underdogs, despite having beaten them earlier this year at Madison Square Garden, 74-61.
Meanwhile, Michigan embarrassed Tennessee in the first game, while Arizona defeated Purdue by 15 points to advance to a date between two No. 1 seeds.
It will be a fascinating day of games Saturday, as the Final Four decides which two teams will clash Monday for the national title.
March Madness Final Four early predictions
Illinois (-2.5) over UConn
Perhaps I’m just a Huskies hater these days, but if you’ve watched closely, UConn is far too streaky from a shooting perspective to trust against a team that is just as good as them from beyond the arc.
For perspective, UConn couldn’t hit a jump shot against 15-seeded Furman in a game that was far too close for comfort down the stretch.
UConn also began their Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan State by shooting an obscene 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc while building a double-digit lead before nearly losing.
Hurley’s group followed that hot shooting start up by going 16-of-40 (40 percent) from the field and 4-of-16 (25 percent) from three the rest of the way.
They also fell behind by 19 points against Duke and led a furious comeback to score a victory and advance to the Final Four.
Hurley is a magician, there’s no denying that.
But Illinois shoots the 3-pointer the 12th-most in the nation this season (30.7 attempts), far more than UConn (162nd most, 23.6 attempts).
The Fighting Illini also shoot 34.81 percent from beyond the arc despite taking seven more shots per game from that range (UConn 34.56 percent).
Brad Underwood’s group is also seventh-best in rebound margin compared to UConn’s 32nd, and 25th in field goal percentage allowed (40.7 percent) while UConn narrowly edges them (22nd, 40.51 percent).
It’ll be a good game and a close matchup, but math tells me that Illinois will score more.
PREDICTION: Illinois -2.5 (-105, BetMGM)
Arizona vs. Michigan
Two of the elite of the elites come together as Arizona faces Michigan in the nightcap.
Michigan enters as the No. 1 team, according to KenPom, while Arizona is No. 2; this is essentially the national championship game, according to the major ratings outlets.
The Wolverines are rated the No. 1 team in defensive efficiency, while the Wildcats are No. 2, ratings agreed upon by Bart Torvik and KenPom.
Michigan allowed teams to shoot 38.41 percent from the field this season (second-best), while Arizona allowed teams to shoot 39.18 percent.
Betting on College Basketball?
The Wildcats are behind the Wolverines by a small margin in percentage points, with the Wolverines shooting 36.92 percent from 3-point range and the Wildcats at 36.68 percent.
Dusty May’s group is also No. 2 in strength of schedule net rating, while Arizona’s is No. 9.
I suspect a razor-thin matchup here that can be decided by some ball bounces that can go either way.
This spread opened at Wolverines -1, and money has come in on them as Michigan now sits at -1.5, at the time of writing.
I don’t think the line will move that much more by tip-off Saturday, but you could do worse than targeting Michigan against the spread here.
PREDICTION: Michigan -1.5 (-110, bet365)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.