The second and final ticket to the NCAA Tournament finale will be handed out on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. For the first time ever, a pair of No. 4 seeds are going to be meeting each other in the Final Four, as the Syracuse Orange and the Michigan Wolverines do battle. This is a bit of a surprising matchup to see on the Final Four odds, knowing that both of these teams had to go through some rough and rocky roads to reach Atlanta, but they’re both here and are ready to give it a go at winning the National Championship.

March Madness: Michigan Wolverines vs. Syracuse Orange
Michigan vs. Syracuse Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Michigan vs. Syracuse Date/Time: Sunday, April 6th, 8:49 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: The Wolverines have to capitalize on second chance opportunities
Obviously, the 2-3 zone for the Orange has been great over the course of this tournament. Teams are shooting an incredibly low percentage against them, and there just aren’t all that many opportunities that clubs have had to score against this unit. If there is one knock against Syracuse though, it is that it just hasn’t hit the defensive boards all that hard. It’s not that the team is a bad rebounding team, and it isn’t that those rebounds aren’t being contested, but in the end, the Orange have allowed 11.0 offensive rebounds per game here in the dance, including at least 10 in each of the last three rounds. The Wolverines have the bigs on the inside to take advantage of this, and when they get those offensive rebounds, they’re going to have to ultimately finish the job if they are going to have a shot to get into the NCAA Tournament final.

Michigan vs. Syracuse Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#4 Michigan Wolverines -2
#4 Syracuse Orange -2
Over/Under 131
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Key #2: The Orange are going to need to knock down some shots from the outside
Head Coach Jim Boeheim has preached that this is a defensive team that is finally playing defensive basketball down the stretch of the season. However, Michigan has a heck of a lot better defense than most figure. The Orange haven’t hit more than 21 shots from the field in a game since the opening round of the tournament, and we aren’t all that sure that they are going to be able to do that once again and still win this game. We have an appreciation for the fact that the guards are getting into the paint and are really killing opponents by getting them into foul trouble, but we also know that the point is going to come when someone is going to have to hit that big shot to sway the tide of the game. Is anyone going to be able to do it when push comes to shove? That’s perhaps the biggest question that the Orange have to answer when they come into this game.

Key #3: The Wolverines have to be prepared to win a game in the 60s
The Wolverines have done well over the course of the last several games when they have had the ability to score in the 70s. In fact, getting into the 70s is generally the key to victory. Unfortunately, scoring beyond about 65 or so on the Orange is virtually impossible. There aren’t many wins this season when the team has scored in the 50s or the low 60s though, and there are a lot of losses against very similar teams. For example, in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wisconsin Badgers held down Michigan to just 59 points and won by nine. In the regular season, we saw the Michigan State Spartans blow out the Wolverines by 23 in a game in which Big Blue just didn’t have anything going, and we saw those same Badgers win 65-62 at the Kohl Center as well. Can Michigan play like a team that can win a gritty game played in the 50s or 60s? It might have to if it is going to ultimately end up playing for all of the marbles on Monday night.

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David is known for playing Goliath early in the NCAA Tournament, but here in the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta, we are seeing a very similar matchup once again. We’re breaking down the Final Four game lines for the Wichita State Shockers and the Louisville Cardinals, as they take on one another with a spot in the National Championship Game up for grabs on Saturday night.

March Madness: Wichita State Shockers vs. Louisville Cardinals
Wichita State vs. Louisville Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Wichita State vs. Louisville Date/Time: Saturday, April 6th, 6:09 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: CBS

Key #1: Louisville cannot underestimate Wichita State’s abilities on the glass
This is what really got the Ohio State Buckeyes in a heck of a lot of trouble in the Elite Eight. OSU just had no clue how to deal with the bigs for Wichita State. It’s not that any one man really made a huge impact on the glass for the Shockers. They just rebounded the basketball as a team. The fact that they were able to go rebound for rebound with the Buckeyes, one of the best rebounding teams in America was a huge surprise to most. However, we really shouldn’t be surprised all that much. The Shockers not only ended up level on the glass against Ohio State, but they also went +2 in rebounding margin against another Big East team, the Pitt Panthers in the opening round of the tourney. Wichita State very quietly ranks 26th in the nation in rebounds per game (38.4) and seventh in rebounds against (26.1), and if you thought this was a product of a cupcake schedule, you can now put that theory to rest.

Final Four Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#9 Wichita State Shockers +10.5
#1 Louisville Cardinals -10.5
Over/Under 132.5
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Key #2: The Shockers cannot let Louisville go on “that run” to put the game away at any point
If we have one major knock on the Shockers right now, it is that they just didn’t manage to put away that Ohio State team when they had the chance. The Buckeyes went on that huge run and nearly got rid of a 20-point deficit in the second half down the stretch. We have seen Louisville go on runs like that through this entire tournament. Talking about that game against the North Carolina A&T Aggies is silly, but in the rest of these games, we can plainly see when the Cardinals took over. They went on a 24-12 run to end the first half to dismiss any chances the Colorado State Rams had of an upset, they were up 16 within the first five minutes of the game against the Oregon Ducks to put that one essentially away, and after the gruesome injury to G Kevin Ware, we saw the Cardinals take a 42-42 game and make it a 6-48 game in a span of just about nine minutes. We know that Louisville will go on its spurts. Runs of 10-2 will happen, and they’re going to happen against any team in America. Wichita State just has to avoid that knockout blow, the 20-4 run over a span of six minutes that it just wouldn’t recover from.

Key #3: The three ball has to be the great equalizer for Wichita State
The Shockers get a bad rap because they don’t shoot the three-point shot all that well. They were a woeful 2-of-20 from long range in their opening game against Pittsburgh, but since that point, they have figured out how to shoot the ball tremendously more efficiently, knocking down at least 40% of its shots from beyond the arc in each of the last three games. This is sort of what made the VCU Rams dangerous a few years ago on their run to the Final Four. They weren’t a particularly great shooting team, but they all of a sudden caught fire in the dance, parlayed those turnovers that they force into open shots, and they knocked them down from the outside. Wichita State doesn’t have the athletes to win this game with talent alone. It is clear that this squad has to do something special and hit seemingly every big time shot from downtown to get crowd on its side in Atlanta.

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The 2012 National Championship Game odds are out for the NCAA Tournament, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are taking the time to list our Kansas Jayhawks vs. Kentucky Wildcats predictions and keys to the game for the biggest and final game of the campaign.

2012 Final Four Matchup: #2 Kansas Jayhawks vs. #1 Kentucky Wildcats
Final Four Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Final Four Date/Time: Monday, April 2nd, 9:20 p.m.
Kansas vs. Kentucky Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Kansas has to make Kentucky react to a close game
If you go back and look at what the Wildcats have done this year, you have to be awfully impressed. They have 37 wins, including a 10-point victory against these Jayhawks. They only have been beaten twice this year, and in the five games in the NCAA Tournament, they haven’t been challenged at all. The closest game was the eight-point win in the Final Four against the hated Louisville Cardinals, and it was amazing that the Cards weren’t able to at least keep that one closer, knowing that they dominated possession thanks to just a slew of offensive rebounds. Sure, there have been some games this year that Kentucky has been able to win down the stretch; however, we have definitely seen some chinks in the armor. The door stayed open against the Vanderbilt Commodores, and they went on to pull the upset in the SEC Championship Game. That door might stay open yet again versus these Jayhawks.

National Championship Game Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Kansas Jayhawks +6.5
Kentucky Wildcats -6.5
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Key #2: Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson have to prove to be forces on the inside defensively
Withey and Robinson knew that they were going to be up against it when they took on Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Final Four. They passed the test and passed it with flying colors. The real hero was Withey on the defensive end of the court. He blocked seven shots in the game and had eight boards, and two of those blocks came in the last 90 seconds or so. Is Withey overmatched from a physical standpoint? Sure. Whether it is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Anthony Davis that goes against him, Withey is going to be in some trouble. That being said, he and his teammates have improved dramatically in terms of interior defense of late. In the first go around, shots were falling from inside the paint for the whole game. Withey only had four blocks. We think that he could be a big, big factor come Monday night for the Jayhawks.

Key #3: The Wildcats cannot give up second chances
If there is one aspect to Wildcats that we continue to see in the NCAA Tournament that is bothersome, it is the way that they hit the defensive glass. The Cardinals, as we mentioned before, had 16 offensive rebounds, and that was the only reason that they were able to stay in the game. However, all of the last four opponents were able to bring down at least nine offensive rebounds against Kentucky, and three of the four foes were able to get more offensive rebounds for the game than the Cats did. It simply isn’t good enough at this level, and athleticism can only take them so far. They’ll be in a heck of a lot of trouble if they get sloppy clearing after possessions in which they play great defense.

Key #4: Experience cannot be a factor if Head Coach John Calipari wants to get his first title
Coach Cal is one of the most talented coaches in the entire country, but he is still missing that elusive National Championship in his career resume. Since coming to Kentucky, he has used the logic that he is going to bring in the most talented players that he can find, regardless of whether they commit for one year or not to his program. That being said, when you look at the starting five for the Jayhawks, you see nothing but veterans – juniors and seniors that have been through the wars together, and that all understand what it takes to get the job done in these big time games. Meanwhile, when you look at Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller, you don’t think of them as “veterans.” However, in relation to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, and Anthony Davis, these are vets. If it comes down to that proverbial close game in which experience makes the difference, once again, we could see problems for the Wildcats. They have to win this game on their talent level alone.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Final four picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

Our NCAA Tournament picks continue this weekend with a look at the odds to win the Final Four MVP. There are a slew of big time players that are going to be in the running for one of the most illustrious individual prizes in college basketball, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are making our Final Four predictions on the players to watch.

We said way back at the beginning of this tournament that the man we were going to be watching out for was the Kentucky Wildcats’ Anthony Davis (Odds To Win NCAA Tournament MVP: 3 to 1 @ SportBet Sportsbook). Davis has consistently been the man to watch out for that Kentucky always feeds the ball to, and against a very athletic Baylor Bears outfit last week in the Elite 8, he had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocked shots. There isn’t a bigger defensive force in the country than this one, and it is going to be hard to ignore a man that has this much dominance on both sides of the ball. If Kentucky is to win the National Championship, save for perhaps Doron Lamb, it is going to be hard to justify picking any of the other players to win the Final Four MVP.

That being said, we were happy to know at the beginning of this tournament that we were also on the bandwagon of the Kansas Jayhawks’ Thomas Robinson (NCAA Tournament MVP Odds: 8 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook). His odds have been cut in half now that the Jayhawks are here in the Final Four, but there is no doubt that Robinson and his double-double motor are going to be candidates for this award as long as they win it all. Tyshawn Taylor might make for an interesting pick as well, knowing that he was finally able to put together a great game in the Elite 8, but in the end, there probably won’t be a game in the Final Four in which Robinson goes for less than 15 and 10, and if that turns out to be the case, it is going to be hard to ignore him as the MOP of the tourney.

There are a number of players that are down the line that we never really saw coming as potential Final Four MVPs as well. The Ohio State Buckeyes aren’t a huge shock to be in this position, but instead of backing Jared Sullinger, we are going to take a very close look at William Buford (March Madness MVP Odds: 18 to 1 @ SportBet Sportsbook). Thus far in the tourney, Buford has been a bit inconsistent. He only had four points against the Cincinnati Bearcats, and he only has one game with more than 13 points in the tournament, that coming in the first round against the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds. Buford is the best three-point shooter on the team though, and he has consistently averaged right around 14 points per game for his entire career. This is a bad draw down the stretch for the Buckeyes, as they have to take on two teams one way or the other that have a lot of big time bigs on the defensive side of the court, and if they are going to win it all, the guards are going to have to make the difference. We don’t see OSU beating Kansas without a huge game out of Buford of at least 20 points, and that would make him a tremendous MVP candidate should the Buckeyes cut down the nets on Monday night.

Not many are giving the Louisville Cardinals all that much of a chance to win the whole enchilada this year, but if they do, you know that Russ Smith (Odds To Win March Madness MVP: 20 to 1 @ SportBet Sportsbook) is going to have to be the man that does the most damage. When you look at the averages for Smith this year, nothing is all that impressive. He put up just 11.6 points, 2.5 boards, and 2.0 assists per game. He is a great defensive player, averaging over two steals per game as well. However, what you notice are the big games that he tends to explode for every now and again. In just 22 minutes against the Florida Gators, Smith had 19 points off of the bench, and it was the third straight game in which he scored double digits in spite of the fact that he hasn’t played more than 23 minutes in the entire tourney. Smith played for 27 minutes against Kentucky the first time around, and he scored 30 of the team’s 62 points. It’s going to come in streaks for Smith, and he is really the only man in the Final Four that we can see coming off of the bench and winning the Final Four MVP award.

2012 March Madness Final Four MVP Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/30/12):
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Anthony Davis (Kentucky) 3 to 1
Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) 6.50 to 1
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky) 6.50 to 1
Thomas Robinson (Kansas) 8 to 1
Doron Lamb (Kentucky) 14 to 1
Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas) 15 to 1
Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) 18 to 1
William Buford (Ohio State) 18 to 1
Darius Miller (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Gorgui Dieng (Louisville) 20 to 1
Lenzelle Smith Jr. (Ohio state) 20 to 1
Marquis Teague (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Russ Smith (Louisville) 20 to 1
Terrence Jones (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Peyton Siva (Louisville) 25 to 1
Aaron Craft (Ohio State) 28 to 1
Kyle Kuric (Louisville) 35 to 1
Jeff Withey (Kansas) 40 to 1
Elijah Johnson (Kansas) 50 to 1
Travis Releford (Kansas) 50 to 1

2012 NCAA Tournament MVP Odds @ BetUS Sportsbook (as of 3/30/12):
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Anthony Davis (Kentucky) 2 to 1
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky) 5 to 1
Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) 6 to 1
Thomas Robinson (Kansas) 8 to 1
Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) 9 to 1
Doron Lamb (Kentucky) 15 to 1
Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas) 15 to 1
William Buford (Ohio State) 15 to 1
Peyton Siva (Louisville) 18 to 1
Gorgui Dieng (Louisville) 20 to 1
Marquis Teague (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Terrence Jones (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Kyle Kuric (Louisville) 25 to 1
Chane Behanan (Louisville) 35 to 1

Tons of NBA level talent and All-Americans are going to be on the court in the Bayou on Saturday night, and tonight, we are making our 2012 Final Four predictions by breaking down the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Kansas Jayhawks betting lines.

2012 Final Four Matchup: #2 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #2 Kansas Jayhawks
Final Four Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Final Four Date/Time: Saturday, March 31st, 8:45 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Kansas Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: The bigs for the Buckeyes have to stay out of foul trouble
Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger are really the heart and soul of the Buckeyes. They are the men that truly can dominate the game on both sides of the court, and when they are on, they are capable of some big time damage. They are averaging nearly 34 points and 15 boards per game between them, and they have to stay on the court. Sullinger battled foul problems at times this year, averaging right around three foul per game on average. We have seen him struggle against some decent big men that were right around his height, but this time around, he is going to have two big time post players in Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson draped all over him on both sides of the court. The depth just isn’t there for this team if Sullinger is on the bench, as there isn’t a player that averaged even a dozen minutes per game for Head Coach Thad Matta this year outside of his starting five. It could be bad news if Sullinger gets two quick fouls, and if that turns out to be the case for the second straight game, OSU might not be all that lucky.

Final Four Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Ohio State Buckeyes -2.5
Kansas Jayhawks +2.5
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Key #2: Tyshawn Taylor has to have a second straight star-like performance
When Taylor signed on the dotted line to come to Lawrence, there was a heck of a lot of hope that he would be the next in a great line of Kansas guards. That being said, he has largely disappointed. This is the first year that he has averaged double digits in scoring, and in his first three tourney games in 2012, he scored just a grand total of 26 points. That isn’t going to cut it in this one to say the least. Taylor did score 22 against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Elite Eight last weekend. It was encouraging to say the least, but Aaron Craft and William Buford are significantly more experienced and have more to bring to the table defensively than the Tar Heels could without both of their best point guards from the start of the season playing. This is a man that is a lifetime 37 percent shooter from beyond the arc, and he shot at least 48 percent from the field over the course of his career as well. Taylor has to keep that up and be the hero on the biggest stage now that he is a senior.

Key #3: The Buckeyes can’t try to get into a three-point shooting game
There aren’t many aspects to the game that the Buckeyes aren’t very good at, but shooting the three-point shot is one of them. They shot just 33.2 percent from beyond the arc this year as a team, and they have the tendency to go cold when push comes to shove. This is a team that has only taken 20 or more three-point shots once in the three games here in the dance, and that one game was the truly close call against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Last year when the Buckeyes were pounding the interior, they were relatively unstoppable. However, when they tried to push their game to the outside in the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16, they were simply off the mark when it counted the most. OSU has to get the ball to the inside more often, and then shooting games like William Buford had against UK when he shot just 2-for-16 from the floor won’t happen. If that’s the case, it would take a herculean effort by a Jayhawk to pull off the mild upset.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Final Four picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

You aren’t going to find two teams in college basketball that have a bigger rivalry than the Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats. The two will meet in the Bayou to kick off our 2012 Final Four predictions on Saturday night in what might be one of the most anticipated games that we have seen in college basketball in quite some time.

2012 Final Four Matchup: #4 Louisville Cardinals vs. #1 Kentucky Wildcats
Final Four Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Final Four Date/Time: Sunday, March 31st, 6:00 p.m.
Louisville vs. Kentucky Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: The Cardinals have to knock the Wildcats off of their game
… And that mean cranking up the pressure defensively. There were times against the Florida Gators in the Elite 8 that the Cardinals didn’t seem to have the same type of intensity that they did against, say the Michigan State Spartans. In that Sweet 16 matchup with the Big Ten champs, Louisville was able to absolutely take the Spartan out of what they wanted to do offensively, and in the end, it was good enough to put a lay a big time beat down on them. Against Florida at the end of the game, the defense showed those flashes once again. If the Cards can do this against MSU and Florida, there is no reason to think that a Kentucky team that has a ton of guards that have little to no experience at this level fits as well. What we have seen with the Wildcats in the past is that physical games can be concerning to them, especially if Terrence Jones doesn’t have his best stuff, so we do think that the possibility is there that the ‘Ville can accomplish this goal. Louisville has to make sure that it really gets in Kentucky’s head though, and forces a ton of turnovers and stupid fouls. That being said…

Final Four Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Louisville Cardinals +9
Kentucky Wildcats -9
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Key #2: Louisville has to stay out of foul trouble
We’re looking at you, Peyton Siva, Gorgui Dieng, and Chane Behanan! These three were in foul trouble all night against the Gators, and it was up to Head Coach Rick Pitino to try to figure out the crucial moments to get these three into the lineup. When they were off the court, Louisville really struggled, especially defensively, and as we have already determined, this is the calling card for this team. If Gorgui gets into foul difficulties, all of a sudden, the Cardinals don’t look like all that great of an interior defensive side. They are going to be up against it for sure at that point, as the three big boys, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, and Anthony Davis could be dominating on both sides of the court. The Cardinals have to be aggressive, but they have to be smart, and they have to make sure that they don’t commit all that many foolish fouls to take themselves out of the game.

Key #3: The Wildcats have to take their time and keep this game at a reasonable pace
Though you would think of Louisville as a team that loves to push the basketball, that isn’t really necessarily the case. Sure, Pitino would rather start to put pressure on the opposition on both sides of the court, and as a result, there are a lot of points that are scored in transition. Kentucky has had a habit in this tournament of running perhaps a bit too much. The team has allowed at least 66 in all four of its games in the tourney, and that came after allowing fewer than 60 points per game in the regular season. Sure, the offense has the ability to get the job done as well, but we just don’t see this Louisville outfit allowing in the 70s, let alone in the 80s (or in the 100s!) as the Wildcats have reached in all of their games in March Madness. That means that Marquis Teague has to be smart with the basketball and that all of these youngsters that don’t have all that much experience need to keep their heads on straight. This was a team that shot just 33.9 percent from the field and jacked up 27 three-point shots against the Connecticut Huskies in the Final Four last year. That just can’t be the case once again if the Wildcats hope to move on to the finale on Monday.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Final Four picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.