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The Final Four is set. There were some serious upsets in the last round with Auburn beating Kentucky, Texas Tech beating Gonzaga and Michigan State beating Duke. The only top seed to make it through to the Final Four is Virginia which is honestly a great redemption story after being the first #1 seed to lost to a #16 seed last season.
Let’s take a look at the updated futures as we have done all along the way.
Virginia +152
Michigan State +190
Texas Tech +415
Auburn +750
Just glancing at it and it feels like Michigan State is probably the best bet here and Auburn is an absolute steal. This is the hottest team. They blew through the SEC tournament and they’ve defeated a #1 seed (North Carolina), a #2 seed (Kentucky), and a #4 seed (Kansas) on their way there. They’ve had the toughest road to get this far and are still standing. Virginia is definitely the favorite, but if they get past them then they should be favored. Auburn is a -5.5 underdog against Virginia so an upset isn’t totally out of the question.
That game isn’t til Saturday with the Final being on Monday. Until then, we have the NBA, NHL and baseball to tide us over.
MLB Betting Tips:
Los Angeles Angels at Seattle Mariners: How about those Seattle Mariners? They are 5-1 on the young season and the offense has looked really impressive so far. They beat up on the Red Sox including rocking Chris Sale. I really am interested to see how they do today. They face Chris Stratton who is making the move from the National League (always a hit on pitchers) and facing this red hot offense. I would go with the Mariners here, but I can’t do it in good conscience with Felix Hernandez on the mound. He’s really declined over the past couple of seasons and I expect the Angels to hit him well. This game just feels like an easy over.
Bet Mariners/Angels over 8.5 Runs
Friendly reminder: I also post daily MLB Tips at BetMLB.org. This tip is there as well as one more for an early game.
NBA Betting Tips:
The league is definitely ready for the playoffs to begin on April 10th. There are only a handful of teams still fighting and our tips involve them. The rest of the league is just watching the clock and trying not to get injured.
Miami Heat at Boston Celtics: Miami always plays Boston well. Erik Spoelstra and company are always in the film room and this game is often just a chess match between him and Brad Stevens. The Heat usually keep these close or pull upsets and that’s what I’m looking to happen here. The Celtics are locked in to that 4/5 spot and will face the Pacers in round one so it doesn’t really matter to them as they expect to beat them regardless of seeding. The Heat are in a fight for their lives and could very well miss the playoffs if they don’t play well. You know what to do here.
Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors: The same story here. The Raptors basically can’t improve their positioning in the playoffs while the Magic need to win to stay in the race. The line is the same here and I’m once again taking the points. Orlando has played well this year and I expect them to make a game out of this.
