Projo College Hoops

By Erik Matuszewski
Bloomberg

The University of North Carolina returns to the Final Four of the men's college basketball tournament as a heavy favorite to claim a fifth title, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. Who do you think will win?

The Tar Heels (32-4) are rated a 10-11 chance to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament's championship game on April 6 at Ford Field in Detroit.

The University of Connecticut has odds of 9-5 to win the title, while Michigan State and Villanova are listed at 4-1 by Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on gambling lines.

North Carolina was also the favorite to win the tournament entering last year's Final Four and lost to eventual champion Kansas in the national semifinals after falling behind 40-12 in the first half.

"Each and every year you put yourself in a position that you can be one of those teams that has a chance to win it all,'' North Carolina coach Roy Williams said at a news conference following yesterday's 12-point win over Oklahoma. "This team has dealt with a great deal of adversity, a great deal of expectation from other people. They've got us going to Detroit, and we're excited about that.''

Final Four Spreads

North Carolina is favored by 7 1/2 points over Villanova (30-7) in one national semifinal on April 4 in Detroit. Connecticut (31-4) is a 4 1/2-point favorite over Michigan State (30-6) in the other game.

North Carolina, which claimed NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005, has won its first four tournament games by an average of 20.2 points. Should the Tar Heels reach the championship game, oddsmakers said they would be favored over either Connecticut or Michigan State. North Carolina beat the Spartans in Detroit by 35 points in December.

"We have high expectations every year,'' Tar Heels senior forward Danny Green said at a news conference. "It's nothing new to us. They were expecting us to go undefeated and all that talk. We lost a couple of games and everybody thought the world was ending. We handled it very well. This team is mature enough and we're more experienced than we were in the past.''

While North Carolina is making a record 18th Final Four appearance, Villanova is back in the national semifinals for the first time since winning its lone title in 1985.

Connecticut won the NCAA tournament in 1999 and 2004, while Michigan State won its last championship in 2000 and is back in the Final Four for the fifth time in 11 years. The Spartans won their only other title 30 years ago, when Magic Johnson led the school past Larry Bird's Indiana State team.

 Tags  Final Four Michigan State NCAA Tournament North Carolina UConn Villanova

Comments

Vince said:

I have all my money on UNC. I’m not a UNC fan, but I think they are by far the best team still in it. One thing you’ll notice, each team has great coaches (Michigan State – Tom Izzo, North Carolina – Roy Williams, Villanova – Jay Wright, and UCONN – Jim Calhoun).

There weren’t any major Cinderella teams this year, which really makes it a lot more interesting to root for when you have no affinity to any of the teams that are left. You might like this Top Ten NCAA Final Four Upsets: http://www.toptentopten.com/topten/ncaa+final+four+upsets

Link | March 30, 2009 8:09 PM
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Vince said:

I have all my money on UNC. I’m not a UNC fan, but I think they are by far the best team still in it. One thing you’ll notice, each team has great coaches (Michigan State – Tom Izzo, North Carolina – Roy Williams, Villanova – Jay Wright, and UCONN – Jim Calhoun).

There weren’t any major Cinderella teams this year, which really makes it a lot more interesting to root for when you have no affinity to any of the teams that are left. You might like this Top Ten NCAA Final Four Upsets: http://www.toptentopten.com/topten/ncaa+final+four+upsets

Link | March 30, 2009 8:10 PM
Report Abuse

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Vince said:

I have all my money on UNC. I’m not a UNC fan, but I think they are by far the best team still in it. One thing you’ll notice, each team has great coaches (Michigan State – Tom Izzo, North Carolina – Roy Williams, Villanova – Jay Wright, and UCONN – Jim Calhoun).

There weren’t any major Cinderella teams this year, which really makes it a lot more interesting to root for when you have no affinity to any of the teams that are left. You might like this Top Ten NCAA Final Four Upsets: toptentopten.com/topten/ncaa+final+four+upsets

Link | March 30, 2009 8:12 PM
Report Abuse

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