NCAA Final Four predictions: Experts like Louisville to win it all

Experts predict Louisville and Michigan to advance to the championship game on Monday and believe the Cardinals will cut down the nets.

By Jeff Briggs Apr 3, 2013, 9:57pm CDT

This entire college basketball season has been marked by the high number of upsets, which have continued in the NCAA Tournament, but the experts believe that Louisville, the No. 1 overall seed, will cut down the nets on Monday night.

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In Saturday's first semifinal, the experts are picking Louisville to end the Cinderella run of Wichita State. All four CBS Sports experts predict Louisville will not only win, but cover a 10.5-point spread as well. Over at OddsShark, they like the Cardinals to win a closer game, projecting a 82-75 victory. Prognosticator Nate Silver of the New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight gives Louisville a whopping 84.6 percent chance of advancing past the Shockers.

The experts all agreed on Saturday's second semifinal game as well with everyone picking the Michigan Wolverines to top the Syracuse Orange. All four CBS Sports experts agree Michigan will both win and cover a 2.5-point spread, but OddsShark predicts the game will be a thriller, with Michigan coming out on top 80-79. Silver has this game far closer than the first semi, giving the Wolverines a 51.9 percent chance of advancing.

Overall, Silver likes the Cardinals, putting Louisville's chances to cut down the nets at 55 percent compared to 21.2 percent for Michigan, 19 percent for Syracuse, and 4.7 percent for Wichita State. OddsShark also believes it will be Louisville left standing in the end, citing the success of favorites in past Final Fours.