2024 NCAA Tournament Final Four odds, picks: Alabama vs. UConn ...

The Connecticut Huskies will attempt to keep alive the most dominant college basketball run in recent memory as they face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday in the 2024 Final Four. The Huskies (35-3) won the national championship last season and have been even more dominant in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, coasting to a Final Four appearance by defeating every opponent by a minimum of 17 points. Now, they face a surging Alabama (23-11) club that has reached the Final Four for the first time in program history and needs to pull the colossal upset to keep their dream season alive.

Tipoff is set for 8:49 p.m. ET from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Huskies are 11.5-point favorites and the over/under for total points scored is 160.5 in the latest Alabama vs. UConn odds via SportsLine consensus. Before making any UConn vs. Alabama picks, be sure to see the college basketball predictions and betting advice from SportsLine expert Zack Cimini.

A Las Vegas handicapper who's never afraid to buck conventional wisdom, Cimini enters the Final Four as SportsLine's most profitable college basketball expert. He's 85-60-2 on his last 147 college basketball picks, returning $1,850 for $100 players. Anyone following him has seen massive returns. 

Now, he has his sights on Alabama vs. UConn in the 2024 Final Four and just locked in his picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several college basketball odds and trends for UConn vs. Alabama:

• Alabama vs. UConn point spread: UConn -11.5
• Alabama vs. UConn over/under total: 160.5 points
• Alabama vs. UConn money line: Connecticut -727, Alabama +499
• BAMA: The Crimson Tide are 11-6 against the spread in non-conference games this season.
• UCONN: The Huskies have won their four NCAA Tournament games by an average of 27.7 points.
• Alabama vs. UConn picks: See picks at SportsLine

Why UConn can cover 

Connecticut coach Dan Hurley has become a polarizing figure of sorts, but he makes no apologies for an unorthodox approach that he believes has promoted unity within the program. Hurley is known for his bombastic tirades against officials and also isn't afraid to incite the crowd during games if he feels the program's faithful aren't having enough of an impact.

He's also on the verge of a major accomplishment. If the Huskies were to win back-to-back NCAA titles, Hurley would join Bill Self of Kansas and Rick Pitino of St. John's as the only active coaches to have won multiple titles. This is a drastic about-face from speculation that Hurley, who had zero NCAA Tournament wins in his first four seasons at UConn, might have been shown the door had the Huskies not made a deep run in the postseason last year.

Although a popular mode of operation for successful teams is to invent a reason to suggest they are disrespected or underdogs, Hurley has taken the opposite approach. He has embraced the proverbial target on his team's back and has repeatedly encouraged his team to welcome all challengers. "The level of basketball we've played to this point, it's been unparalleled," he told the media after the Elite Eight win over Illinois. Just the defense, and it's been unparallelled what we've been able to do here with the domination of quality teams." See which team to pick at SportsLine.

Why Alabama can cover

Although it goes without saying that an Alabama team that leads the country in scoring would prefer an up-tempo pace, there's also some evidence to suggest that such an approach might be a rare liability for the Huskies.

The Huskies have shown they can play at either tempo, as their 81.4 points per game ranks No. 28 nationally. But they rank No. 315 in adjusted tempo, while Alabama ranks No. 9 in this category. What's more, two of Connecticut's three losses have come to up-tempo clubs that were efficient while Huskies had an off night offensively, particularly from behind the arc. Connecticut has remarkably overcome poor outside shooting throughout the NCAA Tournament and was just 3-of-17 from distance against Illinois.

In a 75-60 loss to Seton Hall, the Huskies shot 4-of-21 from 3-point range while the Pirates shot 51.8% from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Creighton managed an 85-66 blowout of Connecticut that saw the Bluejays shoot 54.7% from the field, while Huskies were held to 44% and just 3-of-16 from 3-point land. See which team to pick at SportsLine.

How to make Alabama vs. UConn picks

Cimini is leaning Over on the point total. He has also discovered a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. He's only sharing what it is, and which side to back, at SportsLine.

So who wins UConn vs. Alabama in the 2024 Final Four, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread to jump on, all from the expert on an 85-60 roll on his college basketball best bets, and find out.