What A Team
Gonzaga is the biggest Final Four favorite in the last 25 years (as they should be)
Tim Nwachukwu
Save for a tightly contested first half against Oklahoma in the Round of 32, Gonzaga's first four NCAA Tournament wins have really never been in doubt. The undefeated Bulldogs have won all four games by at least 16 points, each time covering huge, double-digit spreads. Good teams win, great teams cover.
Make no mistake, Gonzaga is a GREAT team, perhaps an all-time great. With two more victories, the Zags can become immortal, and there seems to be little doubt that that's going to happen.
Gonzaga's next opponent is UCLA, a team that eeked out a rock-fight win over Michigan on Tuesday night, right after the Zags disposed of USC. If you watched both those games, you probably asked yourself the same question the rest of America is asking - how can UCLA possibly compete with the almighty Bulldogs? The oddsmakers seem to agree, with Gonzaga opening as a 14.5-point favorite. If that sounds crazy high, that's because it's the biggest Final Four spread in the last 25 years, per Odds Shark:
Given how good Gonzaga has looked, this shouldn't be that surprising, but it does still come as a bit of a shcok given it's 3.5 points higher than the next largest spread. Two-touchdown favorites in the Final Four don't come around that often, and chances are this one gets bet up even more.
For those wondering, the favorites went 1-3 against the spread in those four listed games. Hammer UCLA?