The Florida Gators have paid off on the March Madness odds in five of their last six games in the Final Four dating back to 2000 as they prepare to take on the UConn Huskies as favorites on the betting lines in Saturday's national semifinal.
No. 1 Florida is a 6-point favorite on the March Madness betting lines at Sportsbook for their game against No. 7 UConn on Saturday night and they're also the choice for the contest of the OddsShark computer - which predicts a 70-66 Gators victory.
The Huskies have some betting trends on their side for Saturday as well, with UConn going 5-1 both SU and ATS in their last six games as underdogs, 9-2 ATS in their last 11 tournament games, and 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS in their last seven Final Four games.
As well, UConn found a way to beat Florida back on December 2, grabbing a 65-64 win in that regular-season contest. The Huskies, though, had been favored by 4 points at home on the college basketball lines that night and didn't cover the spread.
Shabazz Napier won that game for the Huskies at the buzzer, picking up 26 total points in the contest. DeAndre Daniels was good for 14 points and seven boards that night for UConn, and Casey Prather had a team-high 19 points for Florida.
UConn topped Saint Joseph's 89-81 as a 5.5-point favorite on the March Madness odds in their Sportsbook game of the tournament, then picked up three more ATS wins in a row over Villanova (77-65), Iowa State (81-76), and Michigan State (60-54) - each time as the underdog.
Florida is 2-2 ATS on the March Madness betting lines so far at this NCAA Tournament, failing to cover against Albany (67-55 at -21.5) in their opener and Dayton (62-52 at -10.5) in the Elite Eight. The Gators covered a 5.5-point spread against Pittsburgh and a 4.5-point spread against UCLA.
2014 NCAA Tournament - Odds to Win at Sportsbook:
Florida -110 Kentucky +250 Wisconsin +325 UConn +700
2014 NCAA Tournament - Exact Finals Matchup at Sportsbook:
Florida vs Wisconsin +160 Florida vs Kentucky +120 UConn vs Wisconsin +600 UConn vs Kentucky +500
2014 NCAA Tournament MOP - Odds to Win at Sportsbook:
Scottie Wilbekin (Florida) 11/10 Michael Frazier II (Florida) 3/1 Aaron Harrison (UK) 5/1 Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) 5/1 Julius Randle (UK) 5/1 Shabazz Napier (UConn) 8/1 Ben Brust (Wisconsin) 10/1
