NCAA Tournament 2015: Elite Eight Preview, Predictions And Betting Odds For Regional March Madness Games

And then there were eight. We are down to the elite eight in the 2015 NCAA Men’s college basketball tournament and with just seven games remaining; the margin of error for the next champion becomes increasingly thin. Thursday and Friday proved to be marvelous days of basketball, but for the most part, there were few surprises as only one underdog (Notre Dame) claimed an upset victory.

With the Final Four on the line, eight teams will go toe-to-toe on Saturday and Sunday as one team from each region of the country will punch their ticket to Indianapolis. Can Kentucky stay perfect? What will happen in the Arizona vs. Wisconsin rematch? Can Michigan State really make it to another Final Four? Will Gonzaga beat Duke to advance to their first ever Final Four? These questions and more will all be answered in less than 48 hours.

Seven of eight correct predictions in our Sweet 16 is not too shabby, but we’ll look for Kentucky-like perfection in the Elite Eight. Here are our predictions on who will advance to the Final Four as well as the betting favorites in each game.

1. Wisconsin Will Win Rematch With Arizona: Wisconsin had a battle on their hands in the Sweet 16 with Roy Williams’ North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday. However, Frank Kaminsky and company survived and a date with the Arizona Wildcats awaits them. Arizona and Wisconsin met in last year’s Elite Eight matchup in the West Regional final, and ironically they meet in the same game in the same region again this year. Last year’s game was arguably the best of the entire tournament as it was a nail-biting finish that came down to the wire. Wisconsin escaped that game only to lose to Kentucky in their first game of the Final Four. Does a similar fate await them again this year? We think history will repeat itself. Kaminsky and Wisconsin are a year older and wiser and will use their experience to beat Arizona more soundly this year. The next question will be, can they win their rematch with Kentucky in the Final Four?

Betting Favorite: Arizona -1

2. Kentucky Stays Perfect: If we learned anything on Thursday it was one important thing; DO NOT piss off Kentucky. West Virginia gave the Wildcats some bulletin board material when they predicted Kentucky would be 37-1 after their Sweet 16 matchup. Kentucky responded with a nearly 40-point thumping of the Mountaineers. Meanwhile, Notre Dame turned a lot of heads on Thursday when they surprised the Wichita State Shockers with a potent offensive attack that nearly nobody saw coming. Jerian Grant led the Fighting Irish to the rim time and time again and Notre Dame scored 48 points in the second half to cruise to victory. It will be a daunting task to defeat Kentucky however, and Notre Dame’s small lineup of four guards will be severely undersized against Kentucky’s length. Notre Dame will have to shoot the lights out to have any shot of beating the Wildcats. We don’t think it happens, but we predict Notre Dame will get within single digits by the time the horn sounds.

Betting Favorite: Kentucky -12

3. Michigan State Makes It To The Final Four: For the second consecutive year, Michigan State has made it to the Elite Eight. A date with 2013 National Champion, Louisville awaits them however in a matchup of marquee coaches. Tom Izzo leads Michigan State and it seems like every March we are talking about an underachieving Michigan State team limping into the tournament only to make a March Madness run deep into brackets. On the other side of the court will be Rick Pitino who led Louisville to the title two years ago. Since dismissing Chris Jones from the program, Louisville has been on an incredible run and are fusing experienced veterans like Wayne Blackshear and Montrezl Harrell with freshman like point guard Quentin Snider. Michigan State comes into the game on fire after eight consecutive games against tournament teams with a seed of 10 or higher. They are 7-1 in those games and are playing with the poise and confidence needed to become the national champion. They are led by Denzel Valentine who made every clutch free throw down the stretch to beat Oklahoma on Friday. This game should be a ferocious battle between two well-coached and experienced teams. Expect a low scoring battle that will come down to the wire. We believe this might be the best game out of the four and have Michigan State moving on.

Betting Favorite: Michigan State -2

4. Duke Spoils Gonzaga’s Party: The Gonzaga Bulldogs advanced to their first Elite Eight since 1999 on Friday, and are just one win away from their first Final Four appearance in program history. Unfortunately for the Zags, standing in their way is the most storied team in college basketball history. Mike Kryzewski has the best player in the tournament in Jahlil Okafor, and an emerging star in Justise Winslow. We give the size advantage to Gonzaga’s two seven-footers in Przemek Karnowski and Domantas Sabonis, but the talent advantage goes to Duke. It would be a great story to see Gonzaga reach their first ever Final Four, especially over the team everybody “hates”, but we simply don’t see it happening. Duke moves on.

Betting Favorite: Duke -3

If you read our Sweet 16 predictions article, we are sticking to our instincts and going with the same Final Four we had from day one. For the sake of our brackets, we hope it comes true, but we believe that Kentucky, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Duke will all be on a plane to Indianapolis come Monday.