It appears the NCAA Tournament selection committee did its job two weeks ago when tournament pairings and seeds were announced. All four No. 1 seeds, North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis and UCLA made it to the NCAA Tournament Final Four by winning their respective regions. The Final Four will be played in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome on Saturday, April 5. Once the final four teams were established this past weekend, sports wagering power-house Sportsbook.com posted betting odds for the final four pairings.
The first game on Saturday matches up Memphis(37-1) with UCLA (35-3) in a 6:05 p.m. ET tip-off. Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have installed Memphis as a -1.5 favorite with a 135 total.
North Carolina (36-2) is favored by a 3.5-point chalk when they play Kansas (35-3) at approximately 8:45 p.m. The total is posted at 159. Money line odds on both games are currently unavailable.
Memphis qualified for the final-four round by defeating Texas in the NCAA Tournament South Regional 85-67 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The victory backed up the Tigers' season-long reign near the top of the poll and made them the third No. 1 seed headed to San Antonio.
Freshman Derrick Rose scored 21 points with nine assists and six rebounds in leading the Tigers to the national semi-finals and outplaying Texas star D.J. Augustin.
UCLA freshman All-American Kevin Love led the Bruins with 19 points and 10 rebounds to top Xavier 76-57 to win the West Regional at Phoenix, Ariz.
Memphis and UCLA met in the regional finals two years ago and in the 1973 title game, with the Bruins winning both.
Tyler Hansbrough had 28 points and 13 rebounds Saturday night to help the Tar Heels hold off Louisville 83-73 in the East Regional final. Playing in front of a partisan home-state crowd, they reached the national semifinals for the first time since winning the championship in 2005.
The Tar Heels will play Kansas who defeated Davidson 59-57 Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit to advance to the NCAA Final Four. The Final Four trip is the 13th in school history. In a game that saw nine ties and seven lead changes and had everyone in the stands on the edge of their seats, Kansas picked up the win on the defensive end when Davidson saw its last second shot fall left of the rim, and the celebration began.
