NCAA Tournament Final Four Betting Preview

Everyone had the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers in the Final Four, right? The Cinderella-story Ramblers have recorded upset after upset in the NCAA Tournament, and they’ll go after one more when they face the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday in the Final Four.

Not surprisingly, the Ramblers are a 5-point underdog at Bovada Sportsbook. The Ramblers have won all four of their tournament games as the underdog as part of an eight-game against the spread winning streak as the underdog. Straight up, the Ramblers have won 14 in a row at 11-3 ATS. The only bad trend facing Loyola-Chicago is that the Ramblers are 0-7 SU and 1-6 ATS in their last seven vs opponents from the Big Ten.

Michigan also has an impressive win streak going, winning 13 in a row at 10-3 ATS. The Wolverines have not been perfect for bettors in the tournament, though, with a 2-2 ATS record. In the Elite Eight, for example, they were a 4.5-point favorite vs the Florida State Seminoles but failed to cover in a 58-54 win. This season when favored, the Wolverines were 26-3 SU and 17-11-1 ATS, and when favored by 5 points or less, they’re 7-0 SU and 5-2 ATS in their last seven.

In the other Final Four matchup, No. 1 seeds clash with the Villanova Wildcats battling the Kansas Jayhawks as a 5-point favorite.

Villanova has been dominant during its tournament run, winning by at least 12 points each time and posting a perfect 4-0 record ATS. In the tournament, the Wildcats are 11-1 SU and 10-2 ATS in their last 12, and the last time they were in the Final Four in 2016, it wasn’t even close as they destroyed the Oklahoma Sooners 95-51 as a 2.5-point favorite.

Kansas was a 3-point underdog in the Elite Eight but got past the Duke Blue Devils 85-81. With the ATS win, the Jayhawks improved to 2-2 ATS in the tournament after posting ATS losses in the second and third rounds. In their last four games in the Final Four, the Jayhawks are 3-1 SU and ATS, and in the tournament overall, they’re 7-1 SU and 5-3 ATS in their last eight games.

The Wildcats and Jayhawks met up in the Elite Eight in 2016 and Villanova came out on top 64-59 as a 2-point underdog. In their last five matchups, Villanova has a slight edge at 3-2 SU and 4-1 ATS.