The Elite Eight tips off on Saturday with arguably the two
most exciting games of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, as the top-seeded Wisconsin
Badgers meet the second-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the West Regional Final for
the second consecutive year before the top-seeded and unbeaten Kentucky
Wildcats square off against the third-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the
Midwest Regional Final. Wisconsin and Kentucky are two of the three remaining
No. 1 seeds left in the field and could meet again in the Final Four for the
second straight year if both of them advance with wins on Saturday.
The Badgers upset No. 1 seed Arizona 64-63 in overtime as the
No. 2 seed and 3.5-point underdogs in last year's West Regional Final behind a
game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds from Big Ten Player of the Year Frank
Kaminsky. The Wildcats simply could not contain him, but oddsmakers apparently think
they will do a better job this time around, opening them as 2-point favorites
despite being the lower seed.
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Arizona and Wisconsin each enter this Elite Eight matchup
with identical 34-3 records and won both conference regular-season and tournament
championships in the Pac-12 and Big Ten, respectively. The Big Ten was viewed
as the better league throughout the season though with seven teams invited to
the Big Dance compared to just four for the Pac-12, which is one of the main reasons
the Badgers got the nod as the top seed in the West this year. The Wildcats are
the sole survivors in the Pac-12 while the Big Ten still has Wisconsin and the
Michigan State Spartans alive in the East Region.
However, the ACC has three teams left in the Elite Eight,
and Notre Dame is one of them. The Fighting Irish won the ACC Tournament and
have also performed very well as underdogs recently, going 7-2 against the
spread with six straight-up wins among the covers. They defeated the Duke Blue
Devils twice, the North Carolina Tar Heels twice and the Louisville Cardinals during
the regular season and then knocked out the seventh-seeded Wichita State
Shockers 81-70 in the Sweet 16 - all as dogs.
Meanwhile, Kentucky is coming off its most impressive
victory of the season, doubling up the fifth-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers
78-39 in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats improved to 9-2-1 ATS in their last 12
games as double-digit favorites following that win and are trying to become the
first team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to run the table with a perfect
season ending with a national championship.
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