San Diego State vs. UConn 2023 NCAA Tournament national title game odds, trends: Bettors on favored Huskies via spread, over total
There's an unusually high spread for tonight's national title game between San Diego State and UConn.
LSU won its first national championship in women's college basketball on Sunday in Dallas. Could San Diego State follow suit tonight in the men's final when the fifth-seeded Aztecs face the No. 4 UConn Huskies in Houston? UConn is a 7.5-point favorite at BetMGM and is taking sizable action to win its fifth national championship and first since 2014. Click here for expert picks.
UConn, which didn't win either the Big East regular-season or tournament title, has outscored its opponents by 103 points in this NCAA Tournament, the seventh team all-time with a point differential of at least 100 entering the national title game. Of the previous six, five would go on to win it all. The only exception? Duke in 1999, which lost to UConn. It's the first time since 2009 that a team is at least -7.5 in the national title game. North Carolina was that year and beat Michigan State by 17.
Coach Dan Hurley's Huskies opened at -6.5 at BetMGM but are now -7.5 thanks to taking 71% of the bets and 86% of the money. The total opened at 130.5 and is up to 132.5 with 80% of the bets and 86% of the money on the Over. San Diego State, the first-ever current Mountain West program in the title game, opened +220 on the moneyline and is now +280 with 60% of the bets and 41% of the money on the Aztecs.
Lamont Butler's game-winning buzzer-beater for San Diego State to beat FAU was the fifth in a Final Four game all-time but the first in which the team was trailing before the shot. A No. 5 seed has never won the national title. SDSU comes into the national championship game having won 19 of its past 21, with its two losses coming on the road at Nevada (14-2 at home) and at Boise State (14-1 at home). Both of those teams earned NCAA Tournament bids.
UConn's Adama Sanogo is the fourth player to average 20 points and 65% shooting in the NCAA Tournament entering the title game over the last 40 years, joining Houston's Akeem Olajuwon in 1984, Duke's Christian Laettner in 1991 and Arkansas' Corliss Williamson in 1994. Williamson and Laettner were named Final Four Most Outstanding Player and Sanogo is the clear favorite at FanDuel to earn the same honor.
FanDuel Favorites for Most Outstanding Player
- Adama Sanogo, UConn -160
- Jordan Hawkins, UConn +360
- Matt Bradley, SDSU +550
- Lamont Butler, SDSU +1500
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