Notre Dame Connecticut Betting – Notre Dame Tries To Gain A Number-Two NCAA Seed
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have quietly become one of the most surprising teams in college basketball this season. They wrap up their Big East regular-season campaign this weekend.
NCAA basketball betting: Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Connecticut Huskies
Why To Bet On Notre Dame
March Madness betting gurus are very cognizant of the fact that Notre Dame, under current coach Mike Brey, has never gone farther than the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, and that the Irish have typically struggled to even make the NCAA field over the past several seasons. The program’s recent history makes this breakout season that much more noteworthy. Notre Dame has clinched a tie for second place in the Big East and, as a result, locked up a double-bye in the five-round Big East Tournament. The Irish do have a Big East Player of the Year candidate in scrappy scoring guard Ben Hansbrough, but they don’t depend on one player for their scoring production. Forward Tim Abromaitis can play on the perimeter and near the paint. Carleton Scott is a glue-guy defender who also possesses a credible outside shot that can extend defenses and open up driving lanes for Hansbrough. This team is balanced, and it plays solid defense at all five positions on the floor. It’s not flashy, but it’s quite effective and has managed to outpace every Big East team other than Pittsburgh this season… and yet the Irish are the one Big East team that has won on Pittsburgh’s hard-to-conquer home floor. This is, in short, not your older brother’s Notre Dame team. The 2011 Irish are flinty and feisty in ways that recent ND squads weren’t. Brey has his best assemblage of athletes in his tenure as Notre Dame’s coach.
Why To Bet On Connecticut
The sports betting cognoscenti, when they put their minds to it, can’t fail to appreciate the value of Senior Day when tabbing collegiate athletic contests. This is the home finale for Connecticut and its senior class, but it’s also likely to be the final home game for UConn’s star guard, Kemba Walker. The Bronx playground maestro joins the aforementioned Ben Hansbrough (and St. John’s wonderboy Dwight Hardy) as a Big East Player of the Year candidate, and his shot-making ability has carried the Huskies through much of this season. Yes, it’s true that Walker has at times hogged the ball and robbed UConn of the ball movement it needs in its halfcourt sets, but for the most part, Walker is the reason the Huskies will make the NCAA Tournament one year after plummeting to the NIT. Walker will have the emotional support of a home crowd at his back, and that should enable him to produce a big game this weekend. When Walker plays well, the Huskies flourish. Sometimes, prognostications really are that simple.
How The Game Will Play Out
The online betting skinny is that Notre Dame will play hard and well, creating a taut and tense thriller. However, when the poker chips are on the table, expect Walker – in what is likely to be his last home game at the collegiate level – to rise up and hit the big shot for coach Jim Calhoun’s UConn crew. Take Connecticut in a close contest.
Notre Dame Connecticut Betting Pick: Connecticut
