The college basketball season is drawing to a close. This Saturday the Final Four tips off in Atlanta. Wichita State and Louisville meet in the first game, and then Michigan takes on Syracuse in the late game.
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You can always find free sports picks at HunterSportsPicks every single day, but I wanted to put together a full preview and free pick for the Michigan and Syracuse Final Four matchup.
Final Four Preview
Michigan Wolverines vs. Syracuse Orange College Basketball Odds From Bovada
College Basketball Betting Favorite: Michigan -2.5
Total: 131
The Michigan Wolverines got here thanks to a miraculous comeback powered by the heroics of Trey Burke in the team’s Sweet 16 win over Kansas. The Wolverines then thoroughly dominated Florida in the Elite 8. These Wolverines are very young, but they are also very talented. Burke is making a heck of a case for Player of the Year, and he has a lot more talent around him than many people realize. Nick Stauskas shoots 43% from beyond the arc, and he was the star of Michigan’s win over Florida. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glenn Robinson III both have famous dads, and they have both been playing very well in the NCAA Tournament.
While everyone I’ve mentioned above is huge for this team, the emergence of Mitch McGary in the post has made this team a real title contender. McGary is racking up double doubles and dominating in the paint over the past couple weeks. He’ll be up against some much better defenders in this game, so it will be interesting to see how he fares. Michigan averages 75.5 points per game and they shoot 48.5 percent from the floor.
Syracuse didn’t look like a team ready to make a Final Four run at the end of the regular season, but the Orange have been great in the NCAA Tournament. They started it out by blowing out Montana and beating Cal. The Orange then took down top seeded Indiana and Marquette in amazing defensive performances. This is certainly not one of Jim Boeheim’s best offensive teams, but this group absolutely knows how to lock down opponents with Syracuse’s patented matchup zone. The length of the guards and wings on this squad makes the matchup zone much more effective. Indiana only put up 50 points and Marquette scored just 39 points in an ugly Elite 8 loss to Syracuse.
Michael Carter-Williams is the key to the Syracuse offense. He is a guy who averages 7.4 assists and 2.8 steals per game. Carter-Williams doesn’t shoot a high percentage, but he does a nice job getting open looks for his teammates. James Southerland is easily the team’s best shooter. Southerland is shooting 40.1% from long range this year, and he has taken a lot of shots from deep. C.J. Fair is the best all-around player on this team, and he leads the Orange in scoring at 14.3 points per game. Fair and Rakeem Christmas both do a good job getting second chance opportunities for this offense as well. The Orange average 70.8 points per game.
Free Pick: Syracuse +2.5
The Orange have a suffocating defense, and it is often the best defensive teams that win at this stage. Michigan’s youth might catch up to them against this matchup zone. In what should be a very close game, I’ll grab the points here. Take Syracuse.
