INDIANA HOOSIERS vs. OKLAHOMA SOONERS Tip time: 6:07 Saturday, March 30th
INDIANA HOOSIERS
-Jared Jeffries racked up 24 points and 15 rebounds against Duke.
-Indiana sunk a blistering 15-of-18 three-pointers (78.9 percent) to eliminate Kent St.
-Indiana has hit 3's at a 45.9 percent clip over its last five games.
-The Hoosiers are also hitting 52.3 percent of their field goals in that span.
-Only one of Indiana's last 7 opponents have been able to score more than 69 points.
-The Hoosiers have also held five of their last 11 foes to less than 60 points.
-Indiana has committed the most turnovers of the Final Four teams with a 16.5 per game.
-Hoosiers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six.
OKLAHOMA SOONERS
-The Sooners are allowing only 65 points per game over their last five.
-They are holding opponents to just 37.9 percent from the field and 27.2 percent from long range in that span.
-Oklahoma held Missouri to just 42.1 percent from the field on Saturday in an 81-75 victory. -Oklahoma has coughed up the ball an incredibly low 7.5 times per game.
-Oklahoma has three players averaging at least seven boards per game in the tournament.
-The Sooners have covered the number in four of their last six outings (4-2 ATS)
MARYLAND TERPS vs. KANSAS J'HAWKS Tip time: 8:47 PM EST Saturday, March 30th
MARYLAND TERPS
-Maryland's Dixon is scoring 26 points per game and shooting over 50 percent from both the field and beyond the arc this tourny.
-Even more impressive, Dixon is draining free throws at a remarkable 94.4 percent clip.
-The Terps are the highest-scoring team in the tourny so far, scoring 85 points per game.
-They're also shooting a stellar 49 percent from the field, 44 percent from downtown, and a tourament-leading 85.7 percent from the charity stripe.
-Maryland has been a 1- 2.5 point underdog twice this season and covered in both games.
KANSAS J'HAWKS
-Kansas trails Maryland in all shooting categories, netting 48.8 percent of its field goals, 38 percent of its 3's, and 73.8 of its free throws.
-Jayhawks are averaging a monstrous 47.2 boards per game in the tournament.
-Drew Gooden is averaging 16.8 points and 13 boards per game in the tournament.
-Nick Collison is scoring 14.5 points per game to go with his 11.5 rebounds.
-Kansas has been favored by 1-2.5 points only once this season, and did not cover.
The Big Dance is winding down, and the Madness has turned into Crunch Time! It's now time to focus on the Final Four to account for the Office Pool money you did not win on your bracket, or to unbury yourself from what was lost during this "Book Friendly" tournament.
Saturday's Final Four matchups from the Georgia Dome, tips first with the No. 5 seeded Indiana Hoosiers taking on the No. 2 seeded Sooners of Oklahoma at 6:07 PM EST. The Hoosiers bring a win/loss record to the table of 24-11, with an ATS record of 19-14-1. The Sooners enter the game owning a win/loss record of 31-4 and an ATS record of 16-15-0. NCAA Tournament SU (straight up) Record: Indiana 56-25, Oklahoma 28-20. Series Record: Indiana leads, 3-1. Indiana is making their eighth Final Four appearance, and Oklahoma its fourth. The Hoosiers haven't been to the Final Four since 1992. The team owns a 5-2 mark all-time in Final Four play and has never lost a championship game, going 5-0. This is Oklahoma's first Final Four appearance under the helms of eighth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson, last appearance for the Sooners was in 1988. The teams last met in the NCAA Tournament back in 1998 with Indiana taking a 94-87 win in first-round action in Washington, D.C.
Indiana's run through the NCAA Tournament has been impressive, alone by knocking off the powerhouse Duke B'*****s. But for the Hoosiers to advance, they must shoot "lights out" as they did against Kent State and play a perfect game, while taking care of the ball and hitting from beyond the arch. Oklahoma is strong both inside and out and would love nothing more than to have another shot at either Kansas or Maryland, two teams the Sooners have already beaten this season, as they attempt to claim their first-ever national title.
The second matchup tipping at 8:47 PM EST, features two of the dominate forces in college bastketball today. The No. 1 seeded Kansas J'hawks with an impressive win/loss record of 33-3, putting money in the J'hawk backer's pockets with a 19-11-0 ATS record, facing the No. 1 seeded Maryland Terps with an equally impressive win/loss record of 30-4 and an ATS record of 18-11-1 also putting money in the Terp's backers pockets. NCAA SU Tournament Record: Maryland 30-18, Kansas 65-30. Series Record: Kansas leads, 3-1. Maryland returns to the Final Four for just the second time, while Kansas returns to the Final Four for the 11th time in school history, first time since winning the Midwest Region in 1993. These two teams have never faced-off in the NCAA Tournament. This will be the fourth consecutive time that Kansas has played against a member of the ACC in Final Four competition, losing to North Carolina in 1993, beating the Tar Heels in 1991 and topping Duke in 1988.
The Jayhawks have proven to be the most consistent team in the nation this year, winning 19 of their last 20 games. Maryland isn't far behind with 17 wins in their last 18 contest. Both teams contain outstanding balance inside and out. Gooden and Collison against Baxter and Wilcox will certainly be something to watch, as will the perimeter stars in Dixon, Hinrich, and Boschee. Even the coaches are as good as it gets in this one with Roy Williams playing a chess match with Gary Williams. If records indicate the expectations of this battle, this one will be remembered for a long time.
The overall favorite vs. underdog results since 1987, there have been 45 total final four games played, and the ATS results have been very evenly split. The favorites have won 30 of the 45 games straight up, but ATS the underdogs own a very slight edge of 23-22. For those who like playing the totals, you may have realized in past Final Four games totals are set higher than what they may be in the regular season. Reason being, the oddsmakers realize that these two games may be the most wagered on games by the "squares" (general public) during the entire college hoops season, which more often than not "squares" play over the total. Of the 45 final four games dating back to 1987, there have been 28 under winners vs. 16 over wins, and 1 push. 30 of the 45 games oddsmakers have set the total at 150 or higher, and 20 of those 30 have gone under.
