Florida vs. Louisville Spread at Gators -1.5
The Florida vs. Louisville spread was coming in at Gators -1.5 at Belmont.com, where you will get 25 percent FREE CASH on your initial deposit here.
The Elite Eight has arrived as teams only need one more win to reach the prestigious Final Four. For Louisville coach Rick Pitino, he has been in this situation before and will have his team very prepared to be only steps away from bringing home a National Title.
Belmont line and total: Florida -1.5 and 132 Florida’s Billy Donovan has been in this position before too having won back-to-back titles a few years ago with his Gators. His team took their defensive skills to the next level in shutting down Marquette in the Sweet Sixteen and are actually laying points in this one as the lower seed.
The Gators are 4-0 ATS in their last four games and have the outside shooting (38% from 3-point) that can absolutely bury teams off the hop. In the first half of their game against Norfolk State, Florida used a 25-0 run to blow the game wide open and effectively end any chance Norfolk State had at continuing their magical run. Things won’t be anywhere as easy for the Gators this time around as Louisville’s defense is relentless and has the speed and athleticism to pressure Florida’s shooters for the full 40 minutes.
The Gators are a remarkable 16-5 ATS in their last 21 NCAA tournament games and that includes a 14- ATS mark when they are favorites. They have yet to allow an opponent to score 60 points against them in this tournament, but for as good as that is for the Gators, Louisville doesn’t mind playing in defensive-minded wars.
The Cardinals have won their last two games in this tournament without scoring 60 points and they did so with their own great defense. They made #1 Michigan State look downright awful on Thursday night stretching their winning streak SU and ATS to seven straight. Pitino’s Cards appear to be taking a page out of UConn’s book from a year ago as they used a great run in the Big East tournament (4 wins in 4 days) to kick-start this National title bid and now find themselves only three wins away from winning it.
Louisville is 12-2 ATS when coming off a win and they are 6-1 ATS after allowing less than 50 last time out. They also beat Marquette by double digits during the conference tournament, so facing a team that had similar success against the Golden Eagles isn’t daunting at all for the Cardinals. Gorgui Dieng is a beast in the middle as he can alter and block numerous shots for the whole game (played all 40 minutes vs. Michigan State) as Peyton Siva and Kyle Kuric lead the attack offensively.
Louisville may be the underdog in this one but they were given the higher seed for a reason and this is quite a favorable matchup in terms of size and game-planning for them. Pitino can smell another Final Four – he has been there five times, but not since 2005 – and he will not let this opportunity slip by.
Look for Louisville to win this game outright.
- Matt Skinner, Gambling911.com
