Miami vs. UConn 2023 March Madness Final Four Odds and Preview

By Jeff Stinger • March 29, 2023

The only school in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Final Four that has been in the national semifinals before is No. 4 UConn and the Huskies are favored to win their fifth national title. First things first: A date with ACC regular-season champion Miami on Saturday in the Final Four from Houston.

The Miami-UConn matchup could be viewed as a battle of a great backcourt (Wong, Pack, Miller) vs. the Huskies’ terrific frontcourt, particularly the Adama Sanogo-Donovan Clingan combination at the five. Sanogo paces the Huskies with 17.1 points per game and 7.5 rebounds, while also putting up 1.3 assists.

These teams last met on Nov. 24, 2019, on a neutral floor at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C. UConn blasted Miami 80-55.

Nitrobetting is ready to dish out key assists and lob passes with betting tips and news coverage throughout the 2023 March Madness tournament. This time, let’s take a closer look at the upcoming Final matchup between the Miami Hurricanes and the UConn Huskies along with the latest NCAAB odds for this massive 2023 March Madness showdown.

Miami vs. UConn 2023 March Madness Final Four Game Information

When: Saturday, April 1, 8:49 PM ET
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
TV: CBS
Radio: 560 WQAM (Miami) // 97.7 FM (UConn)
Live Stream: March Madness Live
NCAAB Betting Odds: Miami (+5.5) // UConn (-5.5)

Why Bet on the Miami Hurricanes?

Miami (29-7) was a short betting favorite in its Round 1 win over Drake but has been an underdog in the three games since. The ACC regular-season champions were +4 last weekend against No. 2 seed Texas and beat the Horns 88-81.

After an alley-oop dunk finish by Dillon Mitchell provided Texas with a 70-60 cushion with 8:53 remaining, Miami used a 13-2 spurt over the next three-and-a-half minutes to grab a 73-72 advantage following a Norchad Omier three-point play at the 5:26 mark. A Marcus Carr jumper evened the score at 79-79 with 1:26 left, but Miami hit six straight free throws over the next minute to build an 85-79 lead with 23 seconds left and seal the outcome. The Longhorns dropped to 22-1 this year when leading at the half.

The Hurricanes shot 29-of-49 from the field, posting a clip of at least 54.0 percent in each half. They also went 28-of-32 (87.5 percent) from the line to counteract the 2-of-8 (25.0 percent) mark from beyond the arc. Jordan Miller’s 27 points, his most in two years as a Hurricane and tied for the fourth-most in program history in NCAA Tournament play, came on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and a 13-of-13 mark from the line. He joined Duke’s Christian Laettner as the only players since 1960 to go 20-for-20 combined from the field and foul line in an NCAA tourney game.

Wooga Poplar totaled 16 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the stripe, and added a career-high four assists to lead Miami. Nijel Pack, the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player, tallied 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong added 15 points, while Omier amassed 11 points and nine rebounds despite foul trouble.

Three of Miami’s top four players – Pack, Miller and Omier — transferred from other schools within the past two seasons. All of them have significant NIL deals, a popular luxury for the game’s best players. The Canes are 18-2 when scoring 79 or more, and one of the losses was in overtime at NC State and the other was on a last second shot against Florida State.

Miami advanced to its first Final Four in school history, with Jim Larrañaga becoming the 15th coach to take two different schools to the Final Four. (He also took George Mason in 2006.) Larrañaga is also the fourth coach to reach multiple Final Fours as a 5-seed or lower. Miami became the fourth team since 1979 to defeat a 1-seed, 2-seed and 4-seed en route to the Final Four.

Why Bet on the UConn Huskies?

UConn (29-8) has been dominant in this tournament and routed No. 3 seed Gonzaga 82-54 in the Elite Eight. The Zags shot 33% from the field — 7 of 29 in the second half — and went 2 for 20 from 3 to miss their bid for a third Final Four since 2017.

Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn controlled the usually efficient Bulldogs at both ends in the West Region final, building a 23-point lead early in the second half. Alex Karaban scored 12 points and Adama Sanogo had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UConn. It’s the sixth Final Four for UConn and first since 2014 when it won its last title.

UConn won its first four games in the Big Dance by 15 points or more, becoming just the third team this century to accomplish that feat. UConn is the first team since Kentucky in 1996 to win its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games by 20 or more points.

Miami vs. UConn Betting Trends

Miami is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games.
Hurricanes are 13-2 SU in the last 15 games.
The total went over in 4 of Miami’s last 5 games.
Connecticut is 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games.
Huskies are 10-1 SU in their last 11 games.
The total went under in 6 of Connecticut’s last 8 games.

Miami vs. UConn Expert Prediction

UConn 76, Miami 71.

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This is just one of the many sports betting guides that you can read here at Nitrobetting news. Stay tuned for more 2022-23 NCAAB season previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest basketball betting odds on our online BTC sportsbook.

*All odds stated are subject to change without prior notice.