by Chuck Sommers
Friday, Mar 31, 2023
NCAA Tournament, Final Four
Time: 8:49 p.m. ET
Time: 8:49 p.m. ET
Venue: NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Where to watch: CBS
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: UConn -5.5
BetMGM: UConn -5.5
Caesars: UConn -5.5
Season record
Miami: 29-7
UConn: 29-8
March is here! March Madness! All the hoopla to get you ready for what should be a fun way to end the season. But as the season continues to progress with what seems like exciting action every week, you know our champion handicappers continue to put the work in each and every week to not only make money for them, but to ensure you get money in your pocket. All you need to do is look at the last 30 days. Scott Rickenbach has reeled in a net profit of $14,000 with a 24-9-0 run on the college hardwood. Team Del Genio has killed it with a 13-1-0 run at +$11,900. Will Rogers (28-15-0) and Matt Fargo (40-27-0) have also seen five figures over the last 30 days with college basketball. Surely, you want to get on this winning as well. All you need to do is go to bigal.com, check out our Best Bets page and make sure you are following along on the action. March will be here before you know it! Take advantage of our best plays and find out what our champion handicappers are doing at bigal.com!
Miami - UConn preview, prediction and analysis
Jim Larranaga led George Mason to the Final Four once upon a time. At the time, it was the greatest Cinderella story of the modern era. You remember who George Mason beat to get to the Final Four? That’s right: UConn.
As fate would have it, Larranaga has the Miami Hurricanes on the cusp of a national championship and while Jim Calhoun might not be on the other side this time around, Dan Hurley’s group has dominated their way to the Final Four and is providing UConn thoughts of yesteryear. The days of Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Kemba Walker, the list goes on.
This UConn team is more athletic and scary in every bit of the way than any UConn team has ever assembled. We’ve talked about the absurdity of the Big East conference this year because of how deep it is. The last one standing is UConn, and of course we are here to see if they can do it one more time.
How confident? Only UConn went into the regionals this past week and dominated the way they did with a 23-point win over Arkansas and a 28-point win over Gonzaga. Remember the time Gonzaga was considered a darkhorse to win it all? Weren’t we all fooled?
But defensively, they’ve killed it. Much like the Huskies have killed every opponent their way. Ever since they lost to Marquette in the Big East tournament, they have just dominated in a way that we’ve never seen. So much so that they even ran Rick Pitino to St. John’s, for John’s sake.
But is it good enough to get Larranaga out of reach? Miami hasn’t had as easy of a road, but it’s still all the impressive. Since that narrow win over Drake in the first round, the Hurricanes dominated with wins over Indiana and No. 1 Houston, before rallying to win that thriller against Texas in the Elite Eight.
This is a Miami team that has relied on timely offense all year long and has always flown under the radar with the ways of the ACC. And yet here they are outlasting Duke, Virginia and all your friends and family members that retired at Florida State, too. And yet now we have to consider the retirement situations in UConn because that’s what’s going to be happening here.
I get it. UConn is athletic. They’re great defensively. They’ve killed teams all tournament long. Things have just been as great as they’ve been all year long. But you know what’s great? When you’re rocked like a Hurricane like that one song that I don’t know who the artist is but they have a cover every time you watch a commercial.
Prediction
And in a weird way, I just want a Florida championship. It’s an hour-long drive between FAU and Miami. We need to have any and everything to give Florida all the earthquakes and typhoons. This is just needed at this time. Give me what I want. I want this whole thing to destroy the state of Florida for the love of God. Miami 80, UConn 77
Projected starting lineup
Miami:
PG: Nijel Pack
SG: Isaiah Wong
SF: Wooga Poplar
PF: Jordan Miller
C: Norchad Omier
UConn:
PG: Tristen Newton
SG: Jordan Hawkins
SF: Andre Jackson Jr.
PF: Alex Karaban
C: Adama Sanogo
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
