-Picks.jpg)
For the first time in the history of the NCAA Tournament, a No. 10 seed has advanced to the Final Four. The Syracuse Orange have become the fourth double-digit seed to reach the Final Four in the history of the dance, but none of the previous three actually reached the National Championship Game. That's what Jim Boeheim and company are up against when they take on their conference foes, the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second Final Four matchup on Saturday night.
NCAA Tournament Odds at BookMaker.eu
Syracuse Orange +9.5
North Carolina Tar Heels –9.5
Over/Under 149
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The fact of the matter is that the road to the Final Four wasn't nearly as bad for either of these teams as it could've been.
North Carolina ended up going through a really weak East Region to reach Houston, and it made that bracket look as weak as it was. None of the four games the team played were all that close in the end, and live bettors should take note that when games were close for a while, the Tar Heels merely used relentlessness to continue to build a lead. When UNC has gotten up, live bettors haven't had to sweat all that much. Only Notre Dame made any sort of a reasonable run against the Tar Heels in this tournament after falling behind by double-digits.
We're also not going to say that the Orange haven't had to fight to get here. It's just that, for a No. 10 seed, Syracuse avoided No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Utah in the Midwest Region.
What live bettors will love about the 'Cuse is the fact that they have really put away close games down the stretch against really good teams. They could've folded against Gonzaga in the closing moments but knocked down enough shots and made enough stops to get the job done, and the comeback against Virginia was about as epic as it gets.
KEY MATCHUP
The Tar Heels have been blowing apart opposing man-to-man defenses, so the 2-3 zone might actually be a bit of a pest to them. The Orange can pack in tight and not allow Brice Johnson to get the ball around the foul line or just outside the lane in the low block where he can knock down one of those little turnaround jumpers no matter who is guarding him.
However, that 2-3 zone is going to be stretched out if Marcus Paige can knock down some threes. The Orange stuck around in both of the regular season meetings with the Tar Heels, but UNC didn't shoot the ball well from the outside at all. Paige, in particular, went just 2-of-15 from deep in those games. Paige already has 33 triples in his career in the NCAA Tournament, most amongst active players, and he's been good from the outside in all of his games thus far in the dance.
Live bettors will want to note how much Paige is forcing the Orange to cheat a bit to the outside. If they're forced to honor the three, the rest of this offense is going to open up just as has pretty much been the case throughout the tournament.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
The Tar Heels have combined to seven covers in their last eight games overall. Their one failure was the game against FGCU in the opening round in which the Eagles were only down one at the break and lost by 16.
Syracuse has covered seven of its last eight as well, but whereas UNC has been blowing out teams of comparable nature to the Orange, the Orange haven't seen anything quite like this yet in this tourney. Sure, the win over UVA was nice, but this game is going to be played at a whole different tempo, one which live bettors might find conducive to backing the Heels over the Orange with regularity.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device or tablet at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The Syracuse Orange and North Carolina Tar Heels will square off Saturday, April 2, 2016, at 8:49 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium. This Final Four matchup will be televised live on TBS.
