Florida vs. houston: A preview
MONDAY NIGHT - NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – The stage is set, two number one seeds will face off against each other Monday Night, April 7, at 8:50 pm EST. Number one Houston will go on to face number one Florida for a chance at the National Title. This is the 11th time we have seen two number one seeds face off against each other in the national championship game.
How will these two high-powered offenses match up against each other? Houston has the top ranked 3-point shooting team in the country, led by LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan. While Florida has the best guardin the country with Clayton. Both teams will have to make some adjustments to their defense schemes to defend these weapons. Whether it will take some double-teaming on Clayton, or creating a stronghold on the three-point line to defend Cryer and Uzan, both teams need to make adjustments.
Florida is eyeing up their first national title win since 2007, when recently announced Hall of Fame inductee, Billy Donovan (now of the Chicago Bulls) was head coach; where they won back to back titles. Todd Golden has resurfaced Florida as a powerhouse basketball program in just his third year running the program, bringing back a title to Florida would put him in a group of his own.
While on the other hand, Houston is looking to capture their first national title championship. The last two finals they had made was in the mid 1980s, where they lost both. Their last glimmer of hope was in 2021, although they were bounced in the Final Four. Since then, they have had an amazing program but when March came around they seemed to fall under pressure and were getting upset and bounced very early on in the tournament. This year has been different, they have been the ones dominating and cruising to victories. Maybe they see this in the final?
Florida has opened up at -1.5, becoming the favorite. But the odds are slim here and it is anyone’s game… literally. This is the toughest matchup we have seen this March madness, and it comes in the championship. I nailed the Final Four predictions, so if you listened to me you would’ve made a lot of money. We hit both teams' money lines and also both over/unders. But, this one is harder for me. Both teams have strong offenses, but Houston has one of the top-ranked defenses to pair with an immaculate offense.
The over/under is at 141.5. This is relatively higher than I would have liked to see as a betting man. I believe this game will be similar to the Duke vs. Houston game where we saw just over 136.5 points which was the line. But if we go based off of these two high-powered offenses I believe that both teams will cover the over in this situation. My advice would be to bet the over, and take Florida at -1.5. Florida will go on to win this game and the over will be a success. The final score will be 76-70, Florida takes it down after overcoming a final 3 minute surge where they come back down 5. Florida is a gritty team, Houston deserves a title but some would argue, it is the “Golden” age of Florida basketball.
Florida wins the National Championship, the over hits (141.5).
over 141.5/Florida ml
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over 141.5/Florida ml 〰️
Cameron Williams
DiSportsPhotoAgency
Senior Writer
