We are in the midst of probably the most unlikely run to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four in history with No. 11 seed and South Region champion NC State, which is +1600 to win the school’s first national title in 41 years.
MyBookie Line NCAAB Expert Analysis | NC State March Madness Final Four Betting Preview
NC State Wolfpack vs Purdue Boilermakers NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info
When: Saturday, April 6, 6:09 PM ET
Where: State Farm Stadium – Glendale, AZ
TV: TBS/TNT
Stream: tru TV
Opening NCAAB Lines: Purdue -9.5 (total 146)
Entering the ACC Tournament, the Wolfpack were not an NCAA Tournament team at 17-14 overall and on a four-game losing streak. Coach Kevin Keatts reportedly was going to be fired.
Yet then NC State became only the second team in history to win five games in five days to win a conference tournament, which not only got the Wolfpack into the Dance but got Keatts an automatic two-year extension and big raise. He now stands to gain at least $8.8 million in future scheduled contract value from his team’s through the ACC tournament and continued roll through the NCAA Tournament.
Wolfpack Last 5
| vs Duke – W76-64 |
| vs Marquette – W67-58 |
| vs Oakland – W79-73 OT |
| vs Texas Tech – W80-67 |
| vs North Carolina – W84-76 |
“All the ups and downs we had in our season and when it could have been easy to quit, I felt like he was the main one that kept us all together and kept the outlook on our whole season very positive,” guard DJ Horne said. “He gave us a lot of confidence going into that ACC tournament.”
In this NCAA Tournament, NC State has upset No. 6 seed Texas Tech, edged No. 14 Oakland in overtime (the only game in which NCSU has been favored in the Dance), upset No. 2 Marquette and then stunned No. 4 Duke on Sunday, 76-64, to reach the program’s first Final Four since that memorable 1983 team won it all when coached by the late Jim Valvano.
As Keatts said, the Wolfpack didn’t accidentally get hot, not against the competition they’ve been playing against. North Carolina State has beaten five ranked teams in its nine-game winning streak, including Duke in the Elite Eight. The Wolfpack have eight transfers and it took some time for everything to come together but NC State is better defensively and in rebounding than earlier in the season.
Perhaps the face of this tournament has been 6-foot-9, 280-pound NC State big man DJ Burns Jr. He put an exclamation point on NC State’s run so far with 29 points and 0 turnovers in its Elite Eight win, the most points without a turnover vs Duke in NCAA Tournament history. Burns is averaging 18.3 PPG on 67.4% shooting in the NCAA Tournament, the first player to hit both marks entering a trip to the Final Four since Corliss Williamson for national champion Arkansas in 1994.
With his body frame, Burns is actually generating NFL interest. On Monday, Fox Sports and NFL Media’s Peter Schrager noted that he had spoken with multiple scouts and general managers over the weekend about Burns’ potential as a tackle prospect, and indicated that Burns would “get big turnout and potentially $ if he participated in a Pro Day/workout the week after the Final 4.”
Burns would be far from the first college basketball player to pursue an NFL career. Tight ends Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham were famously basketball-to-football stars, and defensive end Julius Peppers played both basketball and football at North Carolina before deciding on football as his full-time pursuit.
We should note that NC State is the sixth No. 11 seed all-time to reach the Final Four and the other five all lost in this round, most recently UCLA in 2021 to Gonzaga in overtime on Jalen Suggs’ memorable three-point buzzer-beater.
The Wolfpack are 9.5-point underdogs Saturday from Phoenix against No. 1 seed Purdue, the Midwest Region champion led by two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey. It will be really fun to see the 7-foot-4 Edey and Burns face off. Edey is averaging 30.0 points and 16.3 rebounds in this tournament, the first player since 1968 Elvin Hayes to average at least 30 points and 15 boards entering a Final Four appearance.
Edey’s 40-point, 16-rebound outing in 39 minutes in the Elite Eight vs. Tennessee was one of the greatest performances in the NCAA Tournament in recent memory. It was a career scoring high for Edey and the first time a player had finished with at least 40 points and 15 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament in 34 years.
It’s Purdue’s first Final Four appearance since 1980 and third in school history. It is the first Big Ten team to make the Final Four since 2019 Michigan State and the 15th Big Ten team to reach the Final Four since 2001. None of the previous 14 won the title. Purdue has 48 NCAA Tournament wins, most of any team all-time without a national title.
The Boilermakers (33-4) have had the Final Four on their radar all season, spending time at No. 1 in the nation and remaining in the top 3 throughout. They rolled through the first weekend of the NCAA tournament before meeting stern tests from Gonzaga and Tennessee. The Boilers are +19 per game in rebounding in this tournament, offsetting a lack of opponent turnovers (6.8 per game).
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Purdue advances but NC State covers
NCAA Basketball Odds to Win Championship
- UConn Huskies -190
- Purdue Boilermakers +200
- Alabama Crimson Tide +1600
- NC State Wolfpack +1800
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North Carolina 2017 Title Betting Odds
An Inside Look at the North Carolina 2017 NCAA Basketball Title Betting Odds
When the Heels entered the offseason, it wasn’t even clear if they would get a chance to play in the 2017 NCAA Tournament because of an academic scandal at the school that involved the athletic department. The first Notice of Allegations from the NCAA included the football and basketball programs. But the amended one in late April, strangely, did not. Thus that makes it unlikely that the basketball program suffers major penalties like not being allowed postseason basketball next season. From an on-court perspective, the Heels do lose two of their best players in All-American forward Brice Johnson and senior point guard Marcus Paige. Johnson (16.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG) finished second for ACC Player of the Year honors. Paige (12.1 PPG, 3.7 APG) was a leader for the Heels for four years, though his numbers went down from his junior season. But the Heels have gotten great news with two other top players, Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson, recently taking their name out of the NBA Draft. Both are allowed to return to school because they didn’t sign with agents. Underclassmen have until May 25 to withdraw their names from the draft in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility. The 6-foot-10 Meeks, a three-year contributor and frequent starter for the Tar Heels down low, didn’t have the breakout season many expected in 2015-16. A knee injury forced him to miss seven games, and he saw a slight decline in points per game (9.2), rebounds per game (5.9) and shooting percentage (54.0) from his sophomore season. He still has major upside. This week, Jackson also took his name out of the draft. The 6-foot-8 junior-to-be averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists this past season, but concerns about his lack of strength and inability to consistently sink outside shots hurt his chances of being a first-round pick this June. When Paige was out early last year, Jackson put together three consecutive games of more than 20 points each. Paige himself never had three straight 20+ games in his decorated UNC career. With returnees Meeks, Jackson, Isaiah Hicks, Nate Britt and Joel Berry II, the Heels look strong and will be a preseason Top-10 team but a second-favorite in the ACC to Duke. Berry can score from the perimeter. Meeks and Hicks can score in the paint. And Jackson can score everywhere in-between. The starting lineup should be seniors Meeks and Hicks, juniors Jackson and Berry, and either junior Theo Pinson or senior Britt. That means no matter which way Williams chooses to go in the backcourt, the Tar Heels will start all juniors and seniors for the first time since the 2008-09 team. Coach Williams also will bring in a top-10 recruiting class headlined by big man Tony Bradley and guards Brandon Robinson and Seventh Woods. Bradley, at 6-foot-10, 235 pounds could immediately help compensate for Johnson’s departure. North Carolina’s 2016-17 schedule should be out soon. The Heels will participate in the stacked Maui Invitational.College Basketball Betting Center
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