2011 NCAA College Basketball Butler vs. UConn Picks & Predictions
By Anthony Rome
Bet 2011 NCAA Championship Odds
(The Spread) – After all the madness that has transpired over these last couple of weeks, it’s only fitting that Butler and UConn will meet in the title game tonight.
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Oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog.com have made UConn a three-point favorite over Butler in Monday night’s NCAA Tournament Championship Game. The over/under total is currently 129.5 for the 9:20PM ET tipoff.
So how did both teams get here? The Bulldogs kicked off the tournament by beating a team in Old Dominion that most people thought would pull off the upset. Butler covered as a 1-point underdog, then beat top-seeded Pitt 71-70 as an 8-point favorite.
Butler’s reward for beating Pitt was once again being installed as underdogs, yet the Bulldogs beat Wisconsin 61-54 as a 4.5-point dog. Then they took down two-seeded Florida 74-71 in overtime as a 4-point underdog before topping VCU 70-62 as a 3.5-point favorite.
UConn came into the tourney on a six-game winning streak, although pundits thought the Huskies would eventually fizzle due to being worn down. Instead, UConn prevailed.
The Huskies crushed Cincinnati 69-58 as a 3.5-point favorite and then topped two-seeded San Diego State 74-67 as a two-point underdog. They edged out Arizona 65-63 as a 3.5-point favorite before hanging on to beat Kentucky 56-55 as a 2-point underdog.
Now the Bulldogs and Huskies will go to battle for the NCAA crown tonight.
NCAA Championship Free Pick: Sometimes teams just hit their stride at the right time and while that could potentially describe both of these teams tonight, I think UConn will be the one to ride its wave out to the end. The Huskies have now won 10 straight dating back to the Big East tournament and while Kemba Walker did shoot well in the semifinal against Kentucky, big players rise in big games. Butler is fundamentally sound, but the Huskies’ quickness will eventually wear the Bulldogs down. The Huskies are 10-1 against the spread in their last 11 non-conference games and 9-1 in their last 10 games overall. They’re also 4-1 ATS in their last five games as a favorite and 8-2 ATS in their last 10 NCAA tournament games. Take UConn.
2011 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FREE PICK: UCONN HUSKIES –3