2023 NCAA Tournament San Diego State vs. UConn game line, odds: Proven college basketball expert releases pick for national championship showdown

The 2023 NCAA Tournament comes to a close on Monday evening with a national title matchup between the San Diego State Aztecs and the UConn Huskies. Tipoff in Houston is set for 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS. UConn is favored by 7 points in the latest San Diego State vs. UConn odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under is set at 132 (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our college basketball odds page).

Before you make any San Diego State vs. UConn picks or any other college basketball predictions, you NEED to see which side Larry Hartstein is on. 

A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed while working for Pro Football Focus. He also has been SportsLine's most profitable college basketball expert. In his last 194 college basketball picks, he has gone 110-83-1, which translates to a $1,875 return for $100 bettors.

The expert knows San Diego State is elite on defense. The Aztecs rank in the top five of the country in adjusted defensive efficiency and opponents are scoring only 0.945 points per possession against San Diego. Brian Dutcher's team also ranks in the top three nationally in 3-point defense (28.1%) while grabbing more than 74% of available defensive rebounds and forcing a turnover on more than 19% of defensive possessions.

He also knows UConn is dangerous on offense. The Huskies are scoring 114.9 points per 100 possessions this season and out-scoring opponents by more than 20 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. UConn is No. 2 in the country with a 38.6% offensive rebound rate, and the Huskies average 17.7 assists per game, a top-five mark in the sport. UConn is also shooting 53.8% on 2-point attempts, 36.3% on 3-point attempts, and 75.6% on free throw attempts in 2022-23. 

Now, Hartstein has locked in another confident against the spread pick for San Diego State vs. UConn. We can tell you he's leaning Over on the point total, but he knows a crucial X-factor makes one side of the spread a MUST-BACK! You ABSOLUTELY need to see what it is before locking in any picks of your own.

Who wins San Diego State vs. UConn on Monday? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? ... Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the San Diego State vs. UConn spread to jump on, all from the expert who's an outstanding run on college basketball picks!