The San Diego State Aztecs and the Florida Atlantic Owls are set to get this year’s NCAA Tournament Final Four underway on Saturday evening.
Just like everybody predicted, the regular season and tournament champions of both the Mountain West and Conference USA are set to take center stage on Saturday night with a trip to the National Championship Game on the line.
The No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs (31-6) capped off their run to the Final Four with a one-point Elite 8 victory over the No. 6 Creighton Bluejays on Sunday afternoon, after knocking off the No. 1 overall seed Alabama Crimson Tide in a Sweet 16 matchup on Friday night. They are the champions of the South region.
The No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic Owls (35-3) started their Cinderella run with the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory. They have since added three more, including a three-point thriller over the No. 3 seed Kansas State Wildcats in an Elite 8 game on Saturday night. They also upset the No. 4 seed Tennessee Volunteers in the Sweet 16. They are the champions of the East region.
One year after a Final Four chock-full of blue bloods, one mid-major school is going to be representing the “little guys” in this year’s final.
How to watch San Diego State vs. FAU in the NCAA Tournament Final Four
All NCAA Tournament games have been broadcast on either CBS, TNT, TBS, or TruTV. Both Final Four games, plus Monday night’s championship, are set to be shown live on CBS.
This is set to be the last Final Four of legendary announcer Jim Nantz, and in his adopted hometown. However, he is not retiring completely.
Date: Saturday, April 1
Time: 6:09 p.m. ET
Location: NRG Stadium – Houston, Texas
Channel: CBS
Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson
San Diego State vs. Florida Atlantic NCAA Tournament Final Four odds
According to the odds posted on FanDuel Sportsbook, the Aztecs are 1.5-point favorites, with an over/under in the game of 131.5. The Owls, however, own a better record against the spread this year, coming in at 24-11-1, compared to the Aztecs’ mark of 19-15-2.
Moneyline on the Aztecs is currently set at -130 (bet $130 to win $100), while it is set at +108 (bet $100 to win $108) on the Owls.
San Diego State vs. Florida Atlantic NCAA Tournament Final Four prediction
San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher has said — on more than one occasion — that he would tip his hat to the team that finally knocks out his Aztecs, which converted their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2014 into their first ever Elite 8 appearance and now their first ever Final Four appearance.
As the country has quickly figured out, San Diego State’s defense is highly rated for far more reasons than playing an “easy schedule” in the Mountain West — which is, as a whole, actually relatively underrated among mid-major conferences.
They held the number one team in the country to 64 points and cooled down a Creighton team that had been red-hot from beyond the arc (20 total three-pointers in the round of 32 and the Sweet 16), holding them to just 56 points and just two made three-pointers on 17 attempts.
San Diego State is capable of beating anybody in the country, and with all due respect to Florida Atlantic, this game probably ranks third in terms of their toughest tests so far this tournament.
Don’t sleep on the Owls, though. They outtoughed a Tennessee team that had just shut down the ACC tournament champion Duke Blue Devils, whom just about everybody had going to the Final Four, and managed to defeat a Kansas State team that had the benefit of another historic performance from Markquis Nowell.
Having said that, how good are they as a No. 9 seed? Only one other No. 9 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament has advanced past the round of 32 without beating a No. 1 seed. Only two other No. 9 seeds have ever gotten to the Final Four, and both defeated a No. 1 seed along the way.
So while the Owls are battle tested, the challenges they are set to face against a stingy Aztecs team may mark the end of the road and prevent them from becoming the first team seeded lower than No. 8 to make it past the Final Four.
Prediction: San Diego State 66, Florida Atlantic 62