Betting on the NCAA Final Four

This year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the national championship has been truly a sight to behold. For the first time in NCAA history, no number-1 seeds made it to the Elite Eight, which is the quarterfinal round. That’s an unbelievable turn of events, though if it had to happen, it was going to be this year. It was well-known the 1-seeds were relatively weak this time around.

After another round full of upsets, we move on to the Final Four in Houston. The remaining teams are the 9-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls, the 5-seeded San Diego State Aztecs, the 5-seeded Miami Hurricanes and the 4-seeded Connecticut Huskies.

If you had bet this would be the Final Four, you would have won BIG. However, I highly doubt anyone saw this coming. For the highest-seeded team remaining to be a 4-seed is remarkable, not to mention the presence of two separate 5-seeds and a 9-seed.

Betting on this particular March Madness tournament has proved to be a risky undertaking, but it comes with the territory. Here’s a betting guide for this weekend’s Final Four matchups.

Final Four: Florida Atlantic vs. San Diego State

San Diego State is currently favored at -2.5 and -154 on the moneyline. Florida Atlantic is +2.5 on the spread and +128 on the moneyline. Because this year’s tournament has proved anything can happen, don’t be surprised if Florida Atlantic manages to pull off the upset.

However, it’s going to take big money to make any sort of a profit off of this game without going for parlays. Because Vegas sees the matchup as close, betting on either team to win or cover the spread is not going to be extremely profitable unless a lot of money is put up for it.

Final Four: Miami vs. Connecticut

A more interesting game betting-wise is the Miami Hurricanes vs. the UConn Huskies. UConn is currently favored at -5.5 on the spread and -250 on the moneyline. Miami is +5.5 on the spread and +202 on the moneyline.

If you’re going to bet, do it on this game and pick Miami. It’s bizarre that Vegas has disrespected them the entire tournament despite their several impressive performances against top teams. They defeated the 1-seeded Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16 and followed that with a comeback win against the 2-seeded Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight.

Though Connecticut is good (they’re in the Final Four, after all), I just don’t understand why Miami is being given their due respect at this point. Nonetheless, it means betting on them is a wise play that could pay off big.