Through eight days of play in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, we are 17-7 making three picks per every day we’ve got basketball. And with two more games that are as scrutinized and analyzed as any, finding a number you can bet into on Saturday might be tough.
But somehow, we think we can make it through. Here’s our wagering selections for the 2024 Final Four from Glendale, Arizona.
2024 March Madness picks: Saturday, April 6
UConn -11.5
Why mess with a good thing? UConn has been an absolute wagon in the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, but have continued to maintain their “us against the world” mentality somehow.
Expect Alabama to shoot an absolute ton of three-pointers, and that might be a challenge in the stadium environment that UConn experienced last year already when winning the national championship. Just ride the train until you fall off, and we don’t expect that to happen here.
Tristen Newton Over 6.5 rebounds
The Huskies point guard is already one of the best backcourt rebounders in the country, and since Alabama is probably going to try and shoot at least 35-40 three-pointers tonight, a lot of those will be long misses he can recover. This is one of our favorite bets of this entire tournament, as while the Crimson Tide will take a ton of threes, we don’t expect them to make as many.
NC State-Purdue O146
This comes with the caveat that how Zach Edey gets officiated will determine the winning side of this wager. But if the pattern we’ve seen in this March Madness holds, the 7’4 should be given plenty of calls if DJ Burns or anyone else starts pushing back on him too hard on post-ups.
If the whistle flows freely, that should help the over here. Also we expect plenty of open driving lanes for NC State guards on the other end.
