The NCAA Tournament bracket has been set, with several matchups in the first round that should give high-quality entertainment. The UConn Huskies earned a four-seed after a strong season in the Big East, but they will draw a tough opponent in Rick Pitino‘s Iona Gaels in the first round of the West Region matchup. The UConn-Iona betting odds show the Gaels will be significant underdogs to pull off the upset over the blue blood program.
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UConn-Iona Betting Odds & Spread
Per DraftKings Sportsbook, UConn (-9) opens as a favorite over Iona. The Huskies are also a heavy favorite on the moneyline at -460. The over/under is set at a high 143.5 in the UConn-Iona matchup. Those who have not signed up for DraftKings Sportsbook can benefit from a March Madness promo. All you have to do is bet $5 on any college basketball line, and you’ll receive $150 in bet credits!
UConn head coach Dan Hurley led the team to a 25-8 record during the season, 13-7 in the Big East. The finish was good for fourth place in the conference. They had won six straight games before losing to the eventual Big East Tournament champion, Marquette Eagles, in heartbreaking fashion in the semifinal game Friday. Now, though, the attention has quickly shifted to the NCAA Tournament and the Iona Gaels.
“The Big East Tournament is so emotional, and however that goes for you kind of has a lingering effect until you wake up today, and now today feels like Christmas for a college coach,” Dan Hurley said, per the Hartford Courant. “When I was a high school coach at St. Benedict’s, the whole reason I got into college was watching the Selection Show one of my last years [there] and I said to my wife, ‘I want to coach in that tournament…’
“It’s a dream come true for a coach to coach in this thing. To be in the tournament and to have a team that has the quality that could advance in it.”
Uconn tied its highest win total since the 2015-16 season with 25 and was in the top-25 rankings for 17 straight weeks during the season. But they could have their hands full with an Iona team that notched another successful season under Pitino. The 70-year-old coach led his team to an impressive 27-7 record during the regular season, earning his second consecutive MAAC Coach of the Year Award. Despite his age, Pitino is reportedly drawing interest from St. Johns after they fired Mike Anderson last week.
Pitino deflected when asked about the interest.
“You have to understand one thing: The biggest factor in my life is winning,” Pitino said, per NY Post. “More so than the Big East, more so than anything. Winning is the most important thing in my life. In two years in league play, we are 35-6 — 35-6. … If I ever moved, I’d have to have a firm belief that the job I take, wherever it may be, can win like Iona, and I’m not sure there are [many] of those out there.”
The longtime head coach will have a decision to make whenever Iona ends their NCAA Tournament run. Based on the early UConn-Iona odds, it is likely that the Gaels will be sent packing in the first round by a Huskies team that simply has more talent on its roster.
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