
What a tournament it’s been! March Madness has rarely been this mad, indeed. Now we’re down to the nitty gritty, with four teams remaining, none of them ranked higher than a 4-seed.
Among the championship hopefuls is the University of Miami Florida. The Hurricanes have stormed their way through the competition with one decisive victory after another. However, their opponent in the upcoming semifinal game on April 1—the UConn Huskies—is not to be trifled with.
Let’s start with a peek at the odds for the Miami-UConn game.
BetMGM:
DraftKings:
The NCAAB championship odds paint a somewhat stark picture for Miami. The Hurricanes are expected to lose at most sportsbooks, by a margin of about five points.
Sports betting sites typically have a good read on games like these, but that doesn’t mean Miami is completely out of it yet.
Miami has put up an impressive showing in the NCAA Tournament thus far. The Hurricanes first battled the Drake Bulldogs in round one. Drake made a solid effort, but Miami emerged victorious in a 63-56 win.
Indiana was the next obstacle for Miami, but the Hurricanes didn’t bat an eye. They took down the Hoosiers 85 to 69.
In the Sweet Sixteen, Miami met with the Houston Cougars, a 1-seed team expected to make a deep run into the bracket. Miami stopped the Cougars in their tracks, taking down a top team handily by 14 points. Miami took the win, 89-75.
Miami’s tough road to the Final Four continued with Texas, a 2-seed and another favorite for a strong March Madness outing. Yet again, the Hurricanes defied expectations, wrangling the Longhorns 88-81 and adding another mismatched win to their résumé.
Now, Miami has to contend with another impressive roster: the UConn Huskies. The Hurricanes are no stranger to David-Goliath match-ups, so they might be able to pull off an upset against a team largely expected to end Miami’s March madness dreams.
I won’t lie to you, Miami fans: your Hurricanes have their work cut out here. UConn has been one of the strongest teams in the tournament thus far. The Huskies kicked off round one with a 22-point win over Iona. They continued their path to the Final Four with a 15-point defeat of Saint Mary’s. That game, by the way, saw UConn score 70 points—the team’s lowest output of the entire tournament thus far. They came to play.
Against 8-seed Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen—a capable team that took down 1-seed Kansas by a point—UConn secured an Elite Eight spot with a 23-point win, 88 to 65.
As if none of this was impressive enough, UConn absolutely annihilated the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga was chasing its first-ever March Madness win, but CConn kindly said “not this year” and capped it off with an astounding 28-point victory, 82-54.
UConn averages 81.75 points per game during this year’s tournament. Though Miami is only ranked one slot lower than UConn in the seedings, it’s going to be a tough one.
It’s not looking great. Miami has made a frankly impressive run up to this point, but now they face a team that simply hasn’t faltered in its run to the FInal Four. The tournament is UConn’s to lose at this point, and it’d take a series of unfortunate missteps by the Huskies for Miami to earn that coveted slot in the NCAA National Championship game.
Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? All signs point to a “no” on that front. UConn has bulldozed its way to the FInal Four, and it doesn’t look like the Huskies are out of fuel just yet.
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