2009 Final Four Odds Set for Saturday

Written March 30, 2009 by Steve Janus

North Carolina defeats Oklahoma (72-60) ACC Player of the Year, Ty Lawson scored 19 points and Danny Green chipped in 18 to help send the Tar Heels to their NCAA record 18th Final Four appearance. The win also marked the program’s 100th NCAA tournament win, also an NCAA record. UNC has won each of their tournament games by double-digits and have looked in control of every game, save for their first half effort against LSU. What impressed me most about their effort against Oklahoma was their aggressive play on defense. The attacked the ball and took risks that paid of because, well, they have great talent on the floor at all times. The Tar Heels were the team to beat at the start of the tournament and they continue to be the team to beat heading into this year’s Final Four where they will match up with the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday. The Tar Heels are 7.5 point favorties over Villanova in the game and the total is set for 160 points.

Villanova defeats Pittsburgh (78-76) Led by Dwayne Anderson’s 17 points and Scottie Reynolds’s 15 points, including a game-winning two point floater with less than a second to play, the Villanova Wildcats defied the odds and beat the #1 seeded Pittsburgh Panthers. The ‘Cats have made it to this point by playing surprisingly physical defense, which has thrown their opponents off of their game plan. In their Sweet 16 game against Duke, they held the Blue Devils to just 5 of 27 from three point range, and were able to similarly hold Pitt’s perimeter play in check, allowing them to hit only 5 of their 18 long-range attempts. They now face arguably the best team left in the tournament in North Carolina.

Michigan State defeats Louisville (64-52) In probably the biggest surprise of the Elite 8 round, the Michigan State Spartans found a way to get past the #1 seed Louisville Cardinals. Maybe the surprise wasn’t that the Spartans won the game, but the manner in which they won. Michigan State was a 7-point underdog heading into the game. Sure, the Spartans played great defense leading up to this game, but Louisville’s Big East offense would certainly be able to overcome Michigan State, right? Wrong! The Spartans forced the Cards out of their comfort zone and had them taking poor shots all day. Michigan State should get a boost playing in their home state for the Final Four, but they’ll face another #1 seed from the Big East in UConn, who I think has a more physical team, particularly on defense. The Spartans are 4.5 point underdogs against Connecticut and the total has been set at 135 points.

Connecticut defeats Missouri (82-75) Kemba Walker posted 23 points in UConn’s victory and Hasheem Thabeet, despite running into fould trouble, was able to grat 13 rebounds. The Huskies beat the Tigers with defense, and while the pace was a little faster than I expected it to be, it was still slow enough for Connecticut to play the game how they wanted it to be played. UConn came into the game as 5.5 point favorites, and I think anyone with action on the game remembers the last-second missed layup by Missouri that would have been the difference between a UConn cover or a Missouri cover. The Huskies were labeled the weakest #1 seed in the tournament before it started, but I think they’ve proved they belong as a top seed. They face Michigan State in hostile territory on Saturday.

Here are your 2009 NCAA Tournament Final Four matchups:
(1) Connecticut (31-4) vs. (2) Michigan State (30-6)
(3) Villanova (30-7) vs. (1) North Carolina (32-4)

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