NCAA Tournament 2014: Picks, Odds Advice, Updated Schedule After Elite 8 Day 2

Richard LangfordMar 30, 2014

With the only No. 1 seed advancing to the Final Four being the tournament's No. 1 overall seed (Florida), there is an easy target as championship favorites.

Sports Illustrated had no problem tweeting of Florida's favorite status before the Final Four was set:

Of course, if which team was favored to win anything mattered, the Final Four would look a little different. Have a look at the results from the Elite Eight, and then we'll fix our gaze on the Final Four.

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No. 2 Wisconsin 64	No. 1 Arizona 63
No. 1 Florida 62	No. 11 Dayton 52
No. 8 Kentucky 75	No. 2 Michigan 72
No. 7 Connecticut 60	No. 4 Michigan State 54

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Date	National Semifinals	Spread	Time (ET)	TV	Live Stream
Sat, April 5	Florida vs. UConn	Florida -7	6 p.m.	TBS, TNT, truTV	March Madness Live
Sat, April 5	Wisconsin vs. Kentucky	Kentucky -2.5	8:30 p.m.	TBS, TNT, truTV	March Madness Live

UConn-Florida point spread via VegasInsider.com; Wisconsin-Kentucky point spread via Todd Fuhrman of Don Best Sports.

UConn +7 over Florida

I'm not a big fan of taking points in basketball if I'm not confident the underdog is going to win, and in those cases, it's typically smarter to bet on the money line. There are too many meaningless buckets at the end of games that have more than one- or two-possession differentials.

This game needs to be an exception. The Gators are going to win this game, but they won't win it by seven. Not that winning by seven or more, as ESPN points out, has been a challenge for Florida:

The Huskies advanced to the Final Four by beating Michigan State 60-54. More than that, however, is the way these two match up. Both teams play quality defense.

The Huskies are 38th in the nation in points allowed, and the Gators are third. Since the score should be kept down, that makes seven points even more valuable, and it's not like the Huskies will be hopeless to score.

Seth Wenig

UConn's Shabazz Napier has been the best player in this tournament. CBS Sports Jon Rothstein helps highlight this:

With excellent team defense and strength, Napier is going to have a hard time carrying the burden of the scoring load without some help for an entire game.

The Huskies do have other scorers, however. Both DeAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright scored in double digits against the Spartans in the Elite Eight and average double-digit scoring for the season.

This trio will help keep this game tight. In the end, however, Florida's collective talent and experience will make the difference. That will lead the Gators to victory, but not to the cover.

Prediction: Florida 62, UConn 59

No. 8 Kentucky -2.5 over No. 2 Wisconsin

David J. Phillip

I'm not going to lie. I wrote Kentucky off at the start of this tournament. This talented group had shown way too much inconsistency to be trusted in the NCAA tournament.

That was a poor assumption. Kentucky is rolling. The Wildcats advanced in a thrilling game over Michigan, 75-72, and they did so without the services of injured big man Willie Cauley-Stein.

No worry for the Wildcats. They rose to the challenge and played well beyond their experience in crunch time. Freshman reserve Marcus Lee, who didn't even appear in the first two tournament games, wound up coming off the bench and scoring 10 points while grabbing eight rebounds.

This fearless young team is full of confidence and will now be playing a battle-tested Wisconsin team.

As Basketball Insider's Alex Kennedy tweets, basketball legend Charles Barkley believes in Wisconsin:

Kentucky matches up well with Wisconsin. Against Arizona, Wisconsin rode the talent of center Frank Kaminsky. The 7-footer dropped 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Kaminsky is a tough matchup for any team, and he will be especially tough for Kentucky if it doesn't get Cauley-Stein back.

Jae C. Hong

CatsIllustrated.com's Aaron Smith passed along this injury update on Cauley-Stein:

Obviously, anyone looking to place a wager on this one should monitor the health of Kentucky's rim protector, but don't be shy about placing money on Kentucky. Even if Cauley-Stein can't go, the Wildcats have the length to disrupt Kaminsky.

Wisconsin has the experience edge, but the Wildcats have proven in this run that their lack of experience won't hold them back.

Kentucky has the diversity and balance to pull out another big win.

Prediction: Kentucky 76, Wisconsin 70