And then there were 4…. The national semifinals in Glendale, Arizona should provide plenty of entertainment, with a field that features two #1 seeds (UConn, Purdue), a #4 seed that averages more than 90 points per game (Alabama) and a Cinderella #11 seed that needed to win its conference tournament just to get into the Big Dance (N.C. State). Saturday night's first semifinal showd own pits the upstart Wolfpack against the powerhouse Boilermakers. Zach Edey and company are significant favorites, but the 'Pack are riding a 9-game winning streak.
Here is my Same Game Parlay for the festivities, which will be televised starting at 6:09 pm ET on TNT. Also be sure to check out our full N.C. State vs Purdue predictions.
Part of the value in a Same Game Parlay, of course, is that all of its components can be correlated if you so choose. That is some of the plan here, as'Mohamed Diarra scoring in double-figures obviously works well with N.C. State covering a small spread. At the same time, plays that aren't correlated drive up the overall payout of the parlay. That is the case with backing also backing the under, but there is no reason why that can't cash even if Diarra pours in a decent amount of points. Let's break down each of the 3 legs.