The 2023 NCAA Tournament has been chocked full of surprises. The final two No. 1 seeds, Alabama and Houston, were eliminated on Friday night. That means that this will be the first time no No. 1 seeds are in the Elite Eight. They don't call it March Madness for nothing, folks!
Ready to make some money on the Elite Eight? We've thoroughly analyzed both games on Saturday to bring you 2 best bets for March 25. Let's cash some tickets!
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Florida Atlantic Owls vs Kansas State Wildcats
How improbable of a run has this been for the Owls? Less than 5% of brackets filled out had the Owls reaching the Sweet 16, let alone the Elite 8. While they have flown under the radar, no pun intended, the Owls have proven time and again this tournament that they deserve respect.
If they don’t get it from their opponent at the start of the game, they sure do earn it by the end of the game. The Owls held Tennessee to under 27% from long range last game and overcame a 5-point halftime deficit. Johnell Davis led the Owls with 15 points, while Nicholas Boyd added 12 points and 8 boards.
Kansas State enters this Elite 8 matchup on the heels of an absolute slugfest that they were able to sneak away from against Michigan State on Thursday night. It took overtime to decide things, but fans were not upset as the game was more than fun to watch.
Markquis Nowell suffered an early ankle injury that put a scare into the KSU faithful, but he returned and completely dazzled the rest of the game. He finished with 20 points and a tournament-record 19 assists in the game. More impressively, he only turned the ball over twice all game.
Best Bet: Kansas State -1.5 (FanDuel)
On paper, this FAU team has the better numbers and very well could take advantage of this Wildcat team that just played an emotional overtime game with their star player nursing an ankle injury.
But if we learned one thing during this tournament, it is never counted out Nowell and these Cats. We are going to ride them here against the Owls in what could be setting up for yet another instant classic. Lay the small number with K-State!
Connecticut Huskies vs Gonzaga Bulldogs
The Huskies came through for us with ease in their Sweet 16 matchup against Arkansas. They led the Hogs by 17 at the break and extended that lead to 23 before the final whistle blew. The Huskies seemingly could not miss as they shot 57% from the field and 45% from long range.
Jordan Hawkins led all scorers with 24 points. Adama Sanogo added 18 and grabbed 8 boards to go with his 2 blocks. They outrebounded the Hogs by 12 and held them to just over 31% shooting from the field.
Gonzaga won another instant classic against UCLA on Thursday night. After trailing by 13 at the half, Drew Timme and the Zags turned things around with tough defense, up-tempo transition play, and great shooting. Timme was magnificent as he shot 16-24 to finish with 36 points and 13 boards.
Julian Strawther added 16 points, with his final 3 being the difference in the game. Mark Few called the Nova 2016 play that led to a Strawther deep 3-ball that dropped for the win.
Best Bet: UConn -2 (PointsBet)
The Zags have been fun to watch, and that performance on Thursday night, specifically in the 2nd half, proved they are never out of a game. However, this UConn team is just on another level right now. They have looked like the most complete team since the start of the tournament and will look that way again here.
You have to assume fatigue is going to play a factor for the Zags here, and we believe Danny Hurley will look to expose some of the Zags' tired legs. We'll jump on the Huskies at this small price.
