Final Four betting guide - Best bets and props - ESPN

7:54 AM ET

Virginia, the lone No. 1 seed left in the tournament, will kick off Saturday's action against upset-minded Auburn, followed by Texas Tech-Michigan State.

Our college basketball experts -- Joe Fortenbaugh, Preston Johnson, Doug Kezirian and Jordan Schultz -- are here to help, giving their best bets for the Final Four of the men's NCAA tournament.

If you're looking for more analysis, be sure to check out PickCenter, which has projections for every tourney game.

Note: All odds are via Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of April 3. All times Eastern.

No. 5 Auburn Tigers vs. No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (-5.5)

Total: 131

BPI line: Virginia -7.8

6:09 p.m. Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Johnson: The Cavaliers are worth a bet at -5.5. My projection is UVA -6.4, but that is with Auburn's Chuma Okeke in the lineup. Okeke tore his ACL against North Carolina, and while his teammates rose to the occasion in an overtime win over Kentucky, Okeke's impact is definitely significant (without him, I'd make this UVA -7). I think the matchup favors Virginia. The Cavaliers defended the 3-point line better than any other team in the country in the regular season, but due to some crazy variance -- and Purdue's Carsen Edwards -- opponents have shot 39.2 percent from 3 in Virginia's past three tournament games against Oklahoma, Oregon and Purdue.

On the other side of the court, a Virginia team that ranked top-five in 3-point shooting this season, at more than 40 percent, shot just 29.8 percent in the tournament. The Cavaliers still won all three (and covered in two). Auburn will take a ton of 3s, and if any of the 3-point luck that has gone against Virginia flips the other way, this could wind up getting ugly. The number is short, regardless. Take Virginia.

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http://www.espn.com/chalk/insider/story/_/id/26425733/final-four-betting-guide-best-bets-props

2019-04-04 12:23:48Z
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