The final day of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is here, so let’s finish it off with a bang and cash in on a three-leg parlay.
Today's March Madness picks favor a pair of high-seed favorites and a plucky underdog who excels on defense.
Today’s best March Madness parlay: Sunday, March 23
Florida -9.5
Saint Mary's +5.5
Arizona -4
Florida -9.5
This will be the end for the two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies as they are running into the team, I believe will be this year’s national champion, the Florida Gators. Florida has absolutely dominated thus far in March winning seven straight by an average margin of 16.3 points.
Those seven wins included three against 2-seeds, two against 6-seeds, and one against a 4-seed in this tournament. UConn just doesn’t have that same defense that got them back-to-back titles and they have allowed 80+ points five times this season. Now they must face the most efficient offense in the country and one that has lit up the scoreboard all season long. Give me the Gators to win big.
Saint Mary's +5.5
The Saint Mary’s Gaels are bringing one of the best defenses in the country to face this vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide offense. The Gaels just held Vanderbilt to 56 points on Thursday and have not allowed more than 67 points in each of their last 13 games and 20 of their last 21.
Now the Tide are clearly going to score more than that as they have failed to reach 72 points only once all season. However, they may not score their usual 90 and that may be enough for St. Mary’s to pull off the upset here against a bad Alabama defense. The Gaels will at least keep this close enough to cover the spread.
Arizona -4
These two former Pac-12 rivals are getting another meeting just a year removed from the conference. The Arizona Wildcats bounced back from a terrible start to the season to finish strong in a tough Big 12 conference. They easily dismantled Akron on Thursday to avoid any upset potential.
The Oregon Ducks are a tough opponent, but this is a great matchup for Arizona. I feel like these two teams are very similar except the Wildcats have a better offense. Arizona is also the better rebounding team and that could be the difference. The Wildcats will advance to another Sweet 16 at the expense of their former rivals.
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