Case of the Mondays: Semifinal Snoozers Result in UNC vs. Villanova

by Ricky Dimon - 4/4/2016

If Monday produces a clunker (it shouldn't, but if it does), this could go down as the worst Final Four in history. Syracuse arguably had no business being in the tournament, and it certainly had no business being in the Final Four. A blowout loss to North Carolina pretty much cleared that up. In fairness to the Orange, they were far better this past Saturday than Oklahoma. Buddy Hield and the Sooners got humiliated by Villanova-a team they had defeated in the regular season.

Odds provided by BetOnline Sportsbook unless otherwise indicated.

Oklahoma . Seriously-what was that? Oklahoma vs. Villanova was expected to be the more competitive of the two national semifinals. To say that did not turn out to be the case would be an understatement, even though the all-ACC nightcap was also one-way traffic. It was 95-51 for crying out loud; yes, that's 44 points. The Sooners shot a disastrous 31.7 percent from the floor, including 22.2 percent (6-for-22) from three-point range. Hield attempted only 12 shots and made just four, finishing with an anemic nine points. North Carolina is a -2.5 favorite over the Wildcats on Monday night.

Syracuse . Whenever you lose in the Final Four and have to watch the National Championship on television, it can't be a great feeling. But the Orange have no reason to hang their heads. Just being in the Houston festivities constituted a borderline miracle. But the bottom line is that Syracuse simply got outclassed by a far superior opponent in the form of UNC. Head coach Jim Boeheim's squad kept it competitive for a while, but the Tar Heels took control midway through the first half and their last deficit came at 16-14. Syracuse took itself out of the running by shooting a horrendous 4-of-13 from the foul line. The "over/under" on the National Championship is 149.5.

Kyrie Irving . Death, taxes, and Irving getting hit by the injury bug…. It happened again this past weekend, when the Cavs' point guard missed his team's 112-103 victory over Charlotte due to a sprained ankle. He sustained the injury in last Friday's overtime win at Atlanta. Head coach Tyronn Lue already wanted to give his starters some rest prior to the playoffs, and the decision with Irving was made easier by the fact that he experienced soreness and swelling in the ankle. It is not yet known if the former Duke standout will return for Tuesday's contest at Milwaukee. MyBookie.ag has Cleveland as a +350 third choice to win the NBA title.

Steven Stamkos . Stop me if you've heard this one before: Florida team with title aspirations suffers late-season blow with top player sidelined by blood clots. First it was the Heat's Chris Bosh, who missed the last two months of the 2014-15 regular season and the playoffs (he is currently out for the same reason, as well). Now it is the Lightning's Stamkos, who has a blood clot near his right collarbone.Tampa Bay is almost certainly going to the playoffs, but its bid to overtake the Panthers in the Atlantic Division will take a hit without Stamkos (first on the team with 36 goals and 64 points). The star center is expected to be sidelined for one to three months. The Lightning are +1300 at MyBookie.ag to win the Stanley Cup.

New York Mets . The Mets are in last place in all of Major League Baseball. Fortunately, that is a much better situation to be in after one game as opposed to after, say, 162 games. New York has more than enough time to make up for Sunday's shortcoming, but it still wasn't a fun Opening Day for the defending NLCS champions. In a rematch of the 2015 World Series (which they also lost), the Mets fell at Kansas City 4-3. They trailed 4-0 early before rallying late with a three-spot in the top of the eighth. Yoenis Cespedes, however, struck out with two gone in the ninth and the tying run 90 feet away. New York is +850 to win the World Series.

Henrik Stenson . One of these days, the Swede is going to get over the hump and get another PGA Tour win under his belt. Sunday was not that day. Stenson carded weekend rounds of 66 and 68, but those were not enough to overtake little-known Jim Herman. While Stenson finished one shot back, the 38-year-old American punched an improbable ticket to the Masters. Stenson has not won since November of 2014, and he does not have a PGA victory since the Tour Championship in 2013. He is +2500 to don the green jacket this week. Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, and defending champion Jordan Spieth are +700 co-favorites.

FC Barcelona . In the 264^th installment of El Clasico (172^nd in La Liga action), Barcelona lost in the friendly confines of Camp Nou 2-1 to visiting Real Madrid this past Saturday.Lionel Messi and company took a 1-0 lead in the 56^th minute before the visitors notched an equalizer in the 62^nd minute. Real Madrid actually scored the game-winner with 10 men, as Sergio Ramos was sent off with a red card in the 84^th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo still managed to find the back of the net one minute later to give his club its first victory at Camp Nou since 2013. Nonetheless, Barca owns a six-point lead atop the table. As massive favorite in La Liga, Barcelona is also a +160 favorite to win the Champions League. Real Madrid is a +500 third choice.

Start:	November 23, 2024 @ 3:30 PM
Expert:	Scott Spreitzer
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