I’ll admit, my interest in this weekend’s Final Four is lower than ever. Why? Many reasons, sir (or madam), thanks for asking. For example:
- There’s no Mid-American Conference teams. This in itself is not a surprise as the odds of a MAC school crashing the Final Four are somewhere between slim and none and slim is packing his bags to head out of town.
- This year’s “sleeper” is an SEC school that probably spends more on coach apparel than MAC programs spend on entire sport budgets. However, in head Coach Frank Martin the Gamecocks have a great story or two. Except maybe they are slightly exaggerated. But facts are optional here at The Belt.
- My first (and one true) love, Kentucky, was
beatenjobbed last weekend in a close Elite 8 matchup with North Carolina. Sad? Sure. Angry? A bit. But I can say with absolute certainty that I didn’t make death threats to referee John Higgins. Fans will be fans, but this is a bit much. Even for my blue-clad brethren in the Big Blue Nation. Maybe we all need to take a step back.
So for all those reasons, I can safely say that the Final Four is not at the top of my sports radar this weekend. That’s reserved for Wrestlemania on Sunday, but we’ll get to that in good time. Your pertinent Final Four details:
Game Times
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 7 South Carolina, 6:09 p.m.
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Oregon, 8:39 p.m.
How to Watch
All games this weekend (and Monday’s championship game) will be televised on CBS. There’s also streaming options on NCAA.com.
Gambling Picks
It’s safe to say that if you’ve been following along for the tourney, you’ve known we’ve been absolutely killing it. Our first round for the best was a staggering 24-8, the second round 12-4. Last weekend wasn’t so great, but we’re still WAY up for the tourney if you’ve been a faithful Belter. This weekend? 4-0. Feeling good.
Gonzaga -7
Gonzaga/SC o137.5
North Carolina -4.5
North Carolina/Oregon u152.5
Saturday. 6PM. There’s three games left of SHOOTYHOOPS this season. Don’t waste them.