Gonzaga opens as the betting favorite in their Final Four matchup with South Carolina.
South Carolina is the biggest surprise Final Four team. Coach Frank Martin’s Gamecocks finished the season 26-10 and tied for third in the SEC. This was progress for a program that hadn’t won a NCAA Tournament game since the 1972-1973 season. Despite that, few expected a long tournament run this year. South Carolina earned a seven seed in the East region and promptly defeated Marquette, Duke, Baylor, and Florida en route to Phoenix.
Gonzaga is also a program that has reeled off a historic run. Gonzaga has established themselves as the best mid-major program in the country, but haven’t won big. They finally won the West region this season after failing to do so despite making the tournament each year since 1998-1999, including seven top four seeds. The No. 1 seed Bulldogs will advance to their first Final Four in program history against South Carolina and are 6.5 point favorites, according to OddsShark.
South Carolina had the second best team defensive efficiency this season, according to KenPom statistics. That team defense, along with SEC Player of the Year winner Sindarius Thornwell, should have inspired more to believe in their tournament odds in retrospect. They have defied 40-1 odds in advancing to the Final Four and will attempt to continue to do so next Saturday.
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Gonzaga is currently 36-1 on the season, which netted them a number one seed. They were the only team to top South Carolina in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric. Additionally, they finished atop his rankings for total efficiency. It is not a surprise for them to open as favorites over South Carolina. This Gonzaga team is one of the very best to come out of Spokane and they will attempt to prove themselves as the very best next weekend.