The first two tickets to the Final Four will be punched today when the Florida Gators take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Duke Blue Devils battle the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Florida last reached the Final Four in 2014. Led by All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators may be ending their drought tonight.
Meanwhile, Jon Scheyer will look to lead Duke to its first Final Four since Mike Krzyzewski's retirement. On the other side, Alabama aims for its second consecutive Final Four appearance.
If Cooper Flagg repeats Thursday's 30-point performance, I would expect the Blue Devils to move on. However, I'll be backing Sion James to give Flagg and the Blue Devils an unexpected scoring punch.
Let's dive into my NCAA Tournament player props and college basketball picks for the Elite Eight games on Saturday, March 29.
NCAA Tournament Player Props for Saturday, March 29
- Walter Clayton Jr. Over 19.5 Points (-115 · Fanatics)
- Sion James Over 9.5 Points (+100 · Fanatics)
Florida Player Prop: Walter Clayton Jr. Over 19.5 Points
vs. Texas Tech · 6:09 p.m. · TBS
In Florida's last two victories over UConn and Maryland, I have correctly pegged their backcourt, backing Walter Clayton Jr. and then Alijah Martin.
Will Richard also looks very appealing for his points prop, but I'll be looking to go 3-for-3 with Clayton instead.
Florida has scored 85 points or more in eight of its last nine games, and Clayton has been a significant reason. He has six games with 20 points or more in his last 10 outings, finishing with 18 in two others. In that span, he's averaging 19.4 points per game.
On the other side, Texas Tech isn't the most ferocious defense in the tournament. The Red Raiders rank 39th in adjusted defensive efficiency on the year. It just surrendered a 30-point outing and 83 points to Johnell Davis and Arkansas.
The Gators rank second in adjusted offensive efficiency and should be in a prime spot again tonight. I'm expecting their leading scorer to lead the way.
Duke Player Prop: Sion James Over 9.5 Points
vs. Alabama · 8:49 p.m. · TBS
If you have looked at props for a Duke game this season, you probably didn't see Sion James available too often — despite the fact that the Tulane transfer has scored in double figures 16 times this season.
Those games have come at pivotal times as well, as he racked up 10 or more against Kansas, North Carolina (three times), Louisville and Arizona in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.
James enters this game having scored 10 points or more in five of his last eight games. Now, he gets an Alabama team that plays fast and gives up a ton of 3-point attempts.
James isn't a high-volume 3-point shooter, but he's shooting 41.7% from deep on about two attempts per game. Many of them are open in the corner with the attention drawn to Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor.
After Flagg's performance on Thursday, he'll likely command even more attention from Nate Oats and Co. tonight. He has had four assists in eight of his last nine games, so I expect a few of them to help James reach 10 points tonight.
