NCAA Tournament Final Four Odds: UNC, Villanova Clear Favorites In Houston

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be gunning for their third win of the season over ACC rival Syracuse when they battle the Orange on Saturday for a berth in the national title game as 9-point betting favorites in the Final Four at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

No. 1 North Carolina knocked off another conference rival to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2009, topping No. 6 Notre Dame by an 88-74 margin in the East Region final, covering as 9.5-point favorites and extending its current SU win streak to nine games ahead of Saturday night’s Orange vs. Tar Heels betting matchup at NRG Stadium.

The Tar Heels have dominated during their current tear, which started with a 75-70 win over Syracuse on February 29, claiming victory by an average margin of 16 points in their four NCAA Tournament matchups, covering the spread in seven of their past eight, including wins in five dates with conference rivals.

The Orange punched their ticket to their second Final Four appearance in four years with a stunning 68-62 upset of No. 1 Virginia in the Midwest Region final, knocking off the conference-rival Cavs and becoming the first No. 10 seed in history to advance to the Final Four.

Syracuse’s unlikely March Madness run has included a pair of outright victories as betting underdogs, extending their solid performance at the sportsbooks to an impressive 7-2 against the spread when pegged as underdogs, including a respectable four outright victories, according to the OddsShark College Basketball Database.

However, Syracuse has been unable to solve the Tar Heels this season, dropping a pair of SU decisions to the reigning conference champions since early January, 1-1 ATS, dropping them to 1-3 SU and 1-2-1 ATS against North Carolina since joining the ACC in 2013.

In Saturday’s other Final Four matchup a pair of No. 2 seeds square off with the red-hot Villanova Wildcats emerging as early 2-point betting favorites ahead of their date with the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Wildcats ended the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks’ national championship aspirations with an impressive 64-59 win as 2-point underdogs in last weekend’s South Region Final, improving their recent record to 25-3 SU. Villanova is also a reliable 7-1 SU and ATS in its past eight games when favored by two or fewer points.

The Sooners also defied the oddsmakers in their Elite Eight matchup with Oregon, grounding the Ducks with an 80-68 win as slim 1-point underdogs, but are just 3-11 ATS in their past 14 games against teams with winning records.

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