The Gonzaga Bulldogs are headed for a collision with history. They haven’t lost, and nobody – with the exception of West Virginia – has even come close. Not since Indiana in 1976 has a team won the national title with an undefeated record.
So what’s to stop them?
Well….. maybe a USC Trojans team that is bound and determined to provide the Pac-12 Conference, which had three teams in the Elite Eight, with at least one entrant in the Final Four.
It’s a big job, but somebody’s got to do it.
That mission gets underway on Tuesday night at 7:15 PM ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and you know, while TBS is televising it, BetOnline customers can engage in all kinds of betting props – more than you’ll find anywhere else.
And oh yes – you can wager on the game while it is in progress, using the software available through the “Live Betting” option.
NCAA Tournament – Elite Eight @ Indianapolis
USC TROJANS vs. GONZAGA BULLDOGS, 7:15 PM ET (TBS)
NCAA Tournament Betting Odds: Gonzaga -9 / Total 153.5
Gonzaga scores more points per game than anyone in the nation, and as we mentioned, the rugged West Virginia Mountaineers are the only team that has thrown any kind of scare into them. Every win but that one has come by double digits. And it’s not because they have gone up against “filler” either; they beat the likes of Kansas, Virginia and Iowa in the non-conference schedule, not to mention three wins over BYU in the West Coast Conference slate.
As the #1 overall seed, they have not been seriously challenged in the NCAA Tournament either. It’s not much of an argument that USC is the best team they have faced on this journey. But they aren’t the best opponent they’ve faced all season.
Still, this is one of those potential “pain in the ass” matchups for the ‘Zags. That is because what they do best on offense meets its match with what USC does on defense. And if you want to go by the statistics, each of them do that better than anybody.
Let’s explain.
Gonzaga is head and shoulders above everybody else inside the three-point arc. They are hitting just below 64% from two-point range, which is best in the country. And they went far beyond that in their Sweet Sixteen game against Creighton, as they nailed 25 of 33 (75.8%).
USC is #1 in the nation DEFENDING two-pointers, allowing just 41.5%, and Oregon didn’t do much better than that on Sunday, shooting just 43% from that territory.
So it really comes down to what Evan Mobley and his brother Isaiah Mobley can do against someone like, say, Drew Timme, who is not a bad playmaker at the center position, and is a great “garbage man” around the basket. Then, of course, there is Jalen Suggs, who drives to the basket and ignites the fast-break offense.
It is plausible to say that this is the most resistance Gonzaga has met this season, and while we concede that they’ve got some people like Suggs, Joel Ayayi and Corey Kispert who can stick threes if they have to, that’s not necessarily the game they want to play. The ‘Zags score less than 25% of their points from beyond the arc. That means it’s not the game they want to play. And USC has a tendency to push the opponent out there.
So it might be a different kind of game than usual for Gonzaga.
We do know that the ‘Zags want to step up the tempo. We also know that USC is in no hurry. Gonzaga isn’t usually lauded for its defense, but they did a pretty good job against Creighton the other day.
USC will cramp Gonzaga’s style, but we don’t really trust them to cover this number, especially considering Gonzaga’s record against all different styles of opponents. But the total – specifically the UNDER – is the way to go here.
There are a lot of ways for you to have a great experience at BetOnline. One of them involves all the props you can take advantage of – just click on the red “plus” sign next to the listing ………… Once the game starts, you can stay involved with real-time wagers by taking the “Live Betting” option…….. And with Odds Boosters, you can get greatly enhanced payouts on pre-selected parlays, every day of the week…….. There are so many ways to open an account. A virtual plethora of cryptocurrencies are available, and that includes Bitcoin….. We’ll see you at the Final Four!
