The Cinderella of the tournament reaches the big dance and they will have to face the toughest team in competition. Syracuse the unlikely Final Four participant, the perennial underdog in this March Madness by all college basketball betting sites, will face the overall favorites North Carolina Tar Heels for a sport on the National Championship game. Can the Orange pull another epic upset and knock out the big dogs in the Final Four? Is their fairy tale run coming to an abrupt end?
The Orange pulled one of the most shocking and amazing comebacks in March Madness history. They barely managed to get in the tournament, having a total of 13 losses in the regular season, with some experts in the media and other off shore betting sites claiming that they didn’t deserve their sport in the tournament. Now, the Orange’s do or die mentality and tough as nails approach has proven to be effective so far, before coming into their game against the Cavaliers, they were praised by their tenacity although they hadn’t faced a tough opponent until that point.
Syracuse managed to force Virginia to turn the ball over a total of 11 times, and made them pay the price in that epic second half. One that will definitely will be remembered and studied by basketball coaches for many years to come. An upset that resonated on the vast majority of college basketball betting fans out there.
During the regular season, Syracuse was a team with a pretty decent three point percentage, managing to get a 44.1 in their major wins in the tournament against tough opposition, such as Duke, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Connecticut. Yet that percentage has dropped considerably in their tournament run. If they want for their fairy tale to stretch for one more game and for Carmelo Anthony to flip out on social media, they are in dire need to hit as much threes as they can.
It is almost a mission impossible for Syracuse to pull this one off, the reason is very simple: every department in which they are weak, is a department in which the Tar Heels dominate. Syracuse are really bad at defensive rebounding, North Carolina is a top three final four team nationwide on that area. The Orange struggles with teams that can move the ball around and go hard in the paint… well, the Tar Heels are an offensive powerhouse. This game could be out of Syracuse’s hands early on… but then again, ask the Virginia Cavaliers how that went for them in the second half.
The Tar Heels have been steam-rolling teams all through the tournament. Their average margin of victory is 16 points per game and they have covered the spread in their entire run at March Madness. They are currently a -9 favorite in offshore betting sportsbooks’ odds, and it seems as this is a great line to take, as the early odds appear to be very generous to Syracuse. The Tar Heels took note of Virginia’s complacency and they are not a team that gets comfortable, they are relentless and the fierce when it comes to taking it to the rim. College Basketball betting fans thinking that the Tar Heels are going to make the same mistakes, as the Cavaliers are oh so very wrong. Sorry Carmelo.