Final Four Preview

It’s almost fitting that in a year of college basketball that looked as up for grabs as ever, we have a Final Four that’s drenched in blue. Doug Edert and Saint Peter’s had one heck of an attempt at crashing the party, but instead this weekend’s action in New Orleans will feature four of the most decorated college basketball programs of all time 🏆

• Kansas, UNC, and Duke are three of just four programs with over 2,000 victories, with Villanova ranking top-20 as well. The four schools have combined for 60 Final Four appearances and 17 tournament titles, including seven of the last 13

• UNC leads the pack with six championships, third all-time behind UCLA (11) and Kentucky (8). Duke is hot on the Tar Heels’ tail with five, while Kansas and Villanova have three apiece

On Monday night, one of these squads will get to add another title to their tally. Here’s what the odds are looking like 👇

Odds To Win The 2022 NCAA Championship

• Duke: +145 (bet $100, win $145)

• Kansas: +180

• North Carolina: +475

• Villanova: +500

While the programs involved are elite, it's still a Final Four grouping few expected. Only 0.088% of brackets had all four teams picked correctly, and over half (51.23%) had none of them 🤯

Villanova vs. Kansas Preview

The first tip of the night tomorrow at the Superdome is between the Villanova Wildcats and the Kansas Jayhawks, a pair of teams picked by many in the preseason to make a run this year. Here’s how the lines are shaping up ahead of the Final Four clash 👇

#2 Villanova vs. #1 Kansas (subject to change)

• Spread: Kansas -4.5

• Moneyline: Kansas -200 (bet $200, win $100), Villanova +165 (bet $100, win $165)

• Over/Under: 132.5

Coach K will deservedly get most of the head coach fanfare this weekend, but both Bill Self and Jay Wright have the chance to add to their own impressive resumes 📈

• Over the past decade, Villanova and Kansas rank second and third nationally in total wins, trailing only Gonzaga

• Both have had their share of March runs, and this won’t be the first time Self and Wright have tangoed in the tourney. On each of the three previous occasions, the winner went on to the win the title 😳

• The last tournament meeting between the two came in the 2018 Final Four, when Nova cruised to a 95-79 victory before finishing their championship run with a win over Michigan

Villanova is surely hoping for a repeat this time around, and they’re playing like a team hungry to capture their third title in just six years. But first they’ll have to deal with a Kansas team that’s firing on all cylinders as well 🔥

• Both the Wildcats and Jayhawks won their respective conference tournament, and each enters the matchup on a nine-game win streak

• The story on either side has been impressive defense (both are allowing less than 60 PPG in the tournament) and balanced offense

• The emergence of Remy Martin for Kansas has taken the scoring burden off Big 12 Player of the Year Ochai Agbaji, while Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie has gotten a big lift from the play of Jermaine Samuels

Unfortunately, Nova will be without Justin Moore, their second-leading scorer this season, due to an injury he suffered in the Elite Eight. It’s a big blow, but certainly don’t count out the Wildcats 😤

UNC vs. Duke Preview

Let me break it down real quick — UNC against Duke. The most iconic rivalry in college hoops. Meeting in March for the first time ever. In the Final Four. In Hubert Davis’ first season, and Coach K’s final season. Man, they really couldn’t have written this any better if they tried 😅 . Take a look at the lines ahead of the historic showdown 👇

#8 UNC vs. #2 Duke (subject to change)

• Spread: Duke -4

• Moneyline: Duke -200, UNC +160

• Over/Under: 151

The Tar Heels and Blue Devils routinely put on some of the best basketball action of the season, and this high-stakes matchup promises to be no different

• It’s pretty wild how evenly-matched these programs are. Since the start of the Coach K era, the Dukies have a mere 50-47 edge across 97 matchups 🤯

• The rivals split the first two editions of this year’s series, but neither required the late-game heroics we often see. Duke never trailed in a 20-point victory at the Dean Dome back in February, but UNC got their revenge a month later by spoiling Coach K’s final game at Cameron

The swagger UNC showed by wiping Duke off their home floor in the regular season finale has translated to the tournament, and highlights have been coming from all over 🔥

• A different player has led the Tar Heels in scoring in each of their four tournament wins. Caleb Love and R.J. Davis each have a 30-piece to their name, Brady Manek’s been good for 21.5 points a game, and double-double machine Armando Bacot just posted a 20-point, 22-board performance

• Don’t get it confused though, Duke’s got studs of their own. Paolo Banchero has been as good as advertised with 18.5 PPG, fellow freshman standout AJ Griffin is coming off his best game of the tournament, and Mark Williams has already swatted 16 shots

Simply put, this game’s got the star-power to match the storylines. What more could you possibly want? One of the most-hyped college basketball games in recent memory, there’s a reason fans are doing whatever it takes to be there 😎

For My Parlay Gurus

I know the NCAA Tournament is all about riding with the underdogs (just ask this guy who bet $100 on every underdog this tournament), but I gotta go with the favorites tomorrow. I'm taking the Blue Devils and the Kansas to come out on top and lock in an epic title game. Check it out 👇

• Kansa -4.5 vs. Villanova: -110

• Duke -4 vs. UNC: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 -- if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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