Point Spreads - NCAA, Final Four, College Basketball, NBA, MLB, World Series, NFL, College Football, BCS & Super Bowl Point Spreads

The 2009 Final Four tips off at 6:07pm ET this evening in Detroit, Michigan with a battle between the Michigan State Spartans and the Connecticut Huskies. That matchup will be followed by an 8:47pm ET contest between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Villanova Wildcats. 2009 Final Four betting odds at SBGglobal.com are predicting the Huskies and Tar Heels to advance to Monday night's national championship game.

From the beginning, the clear cut favorite in this tournament has been North Carolina. Now that they have advanced to the Final Four, the Tar Heels are viewed as a decisive favorite to win Roy Williams his second national title. So why all the love for the boys from Chapel Hill? More than anything else it has to do with matchups.

Perhaps the team most capable of running with the Tar Heels would be the Villanova Wildcats. The Wildcats, while leaning heavily on big man Dante Cunningham, are a guard oriented squad with Scottie Reynolds, Reggie Redding, and Corey Fisher. This gives them the ability to adapt to the flow of a game more easily, as well as get up and down the floor in a hurry. But is that enough to deal with the offensive onslaught that the Tar Heels will bring? Most people do not believe so. The Wildcats will probably need UNC to have the same kind of shooting night against them that the Duke Blue Devils had last week (26.7 field goal percentage). That is not likley to happen with Ty Lawson knocking down 63.6 percent of his tournament three point attempts.

So, who would be the more likely squad from the other side of the bracket to dump the favored Tar Heels should North Carolina get past Villanova? Most people would lean toward UConn with their extremely talented lineup and tremendous size, but the Huskies have shown an aversion to North Carolina's style of play. And as Connecticut demonstrated against Missouri, they are not likely to force a good team out of their game plan. The Tigers repeatedly frustrated the Huskies and, in actuality, imposed their will on Jim Calhoun's team.

That leaves us with the Spartans of Michigan State. Most view them as a long shot to get past UConn as they tend to play the same kind of slow it down game that the more talented Huskies love. However, if they are able to overcome Connecticut, they could pose a significant challenge to Roy Williams' squad, despite getting smoked by them earlier this season. Not only is Tom Izzo a fabulous game planner, his team usually seems to be the one exerting its will, not vice versa (see the Kansas and Louisville games as case in point).

SBGglobal.com's 2009 Final Four Betting Odds:

North Carolina -170

Connecticut +230

Michigan State +600

Villanova +650

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