South Carolina vs. Gonzaga Betting Line, Prediction
The South Carolina vs. Gonzaga betting line was coming in at Zags -6. We have your prediction for this game in the video preview below.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs are favored by 6, with a total of 138.5 as they face the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first Final Four matchup on Saturday, April 1st.
The South Carolina Gamecocks enjoyed their first NCAA Tournament win since 1973 so much that they decided to do it 3 more times and now they find themselves in the Final Four.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs probably didn’t expect to be the more experienced team at this stage of the game, but Mark Few’s bunch is a big favorite to make it to the national championship game for the first time in program history.
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It is the first time ever in the final Four for both teams, and CBS network executives probably aren’t too excited about this matchup.
Gonzaga isn’t based on seeding, but there’s something to be said about a mid-major from the West Coast Conference potentially playing for a title, and South Carolina is simply a Cinderella story.
South Carolina Gamecocks
It is incredibly hard to believe that this is the same South Carolina Gamecocks team that lost 6 of its last 9 games, including a one-and-done in the SEC Conference Tournament with a double-digit loss to Alabama,.
With 4 straight wins, and 4 straight covers, in the NCAA Tournament, the Gamecocks are now 26-10 straight up on the season. The Gamecocks beat just 2 of the 68 NCAA Tournament teams during the regular season. The Gamecocks have shown an extra offensive element in the NCAA Tournament, but at their core, they have been a tenacious defensive team all season.
If the axiom is true about defense traveling, it is going to help the Gamecocks in a big way.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have been an impossible team to rate throughout the season. They stood up well in non-conference play with wins over Florida, Iowa State, and Arizona, but we still weren’t sure what the Bulldogs were as conference play went on.
They enter the Final Four with a record of 36-1 and just blew out Xavier by 24 points in the Elite Eight. One thing is for sure, Mark Few didn’t expect to be a 6-point favorite at this stage of the game....
The Final Four is a new thing for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, but NCAA Tournament success is not. The Bulldogs made the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season and the Elite 8 for the second time in those 3 years.
Gonzaga hasn’t missed an NCAA Tournament since 1998, and Mark Few took over the program in 1999. Few’s Sweet 16 triumph over West Virginia was the 500th win of his career.
There are already some skeptics out there calling out Gonzaga’s route to the Final Four because Northwestern wasn’t a strong #8 seed, but Teams can only play the opponents that pop up on the schedule.
Picks & Predictions
The head coaching battle between Frank Martin and Mark Few will be interesting to watch in this game.
Gonzaga has preached grit and determination on both ends of the floor and those are hallmarks of the South Carolina style of play
Gonzaga’s scoring threats have been very inconsistent in this tournament and that is a bad sign going into a massive venue against a top-5 defense in college basketball.
This should be a low-scoring game, even though the total of 138.5 doesn’t quite suggest that.
This is a very unique shooting backdrop for the players and both teams are going to be stronger defensively than offensively in a matchup like this.
The Gamecocks also have the best player on the floor in Sindarius Thornwell. With that in mind, we’ll take the. South Carolina Gamecocks plus the +6 pts.
