Shoutout Luka Doncic for his big shooting night if you took the Mavs star straight at plus-money. Filip Forsberg unfortunately ended one shot short for the sweep there.

Today is all about preparing for tomorrow's Final Four action in the men's tournament. We have some thoughts on tonight's women's field as well, but now is about getting out ahead on our looks for this weekend.

Spreading out for a big Saturday

NC State vs. Purdue betting thoughts

Our friends over at Action Network compiled a ton of interesting betting trends and notes ahead of this weekend's Final Four, a resource we'd recommend you explore as you prep your own favorite bets.

One such note caught our eye, that being that NC State is the seventh school since 2011 to make the Final Four with pre-tournament title odds of 200-1 or greater.

We looked back on those other teams to see how they fared in their Final Four matchups:

• 2023: FAU (lost by two)
• 2018: Loyola-Chicago (lost by 12)
• 2017: South Carolina (lost by four)
• 2016: Syracuse (lost by 17)
• 2011: Butler (won by eight)
• 2011: VCU (lost by eight)

So, two losses by double-digits, but the other four games all kept it close, or in Butler's case, won (over VCU). We already were drawn to NC State here, at this point, the team's run is just too magical to ignore.

Do we think they win? Probably not. Zach Edey has been dominant. However, DJ Burns should be able to generate some solid looks here and could maybe even force Edey into some foul trouble, which would dramatically alter Purdue's plans.

Betting: NC State +9.5 (-114 FanDuel)

Alabama vs. UConn betting thoughts

If Alabama can get hot from three, they could certainly shock the Huskies here, but this game seems far more straightforward to us.

Fading UConn is just about the worst betting strategy you could deploy over the past two seasons. The Huskies have won 10 straight tournament games, all of which have come by 13+ points. That 30-0 run they unloaded on Illinois should tell you all you need to know about just how dominant this unit is. 

We're not betting against them now.

Betting: UConn -11.5 (-105 Caesars)

In the news ...

NCAAW Final Four today — The Final Four for the NCAA women's tournament is tonight in Cleveland, with undefeated South Carolina 11.5-point favorites over No. 3 NC State and Caitlin Clark and Iowa 2.5-point favorites against No. 3 UConn. The Gamecocks seem like an unstoppable force, so we definitely like them to advance, and the more we think about, the more we think Geno Auriemma and the Huskies will dial up a strong gameplan to limit Clark's effectiveness. Our play? We're moving the spreads around a bit, rolling with a parlay of South Carolina -6.5 & UConn +6.5 at +100 on DraftKings.

Athletics moving to Sacramento — The tension between the city of Oakland and the Athletics has been growing more and more of late, and the As are now officially fleeing the scene. The Athletics announced on Thursday they will be moving to Sacramento next season to serve as a temporary home for 3+ seasons until their Las Vegas stadium is ready. Owner John Fisher has come under fire for being one of the worst owners in sports, and this is a tough end to the team's history in Oakland.

New York Knicks lose Julius Randle for season — In a disappointing announcement, the Knicks have announced that All-NBA forward Julius Randle will undergo season-ending right shoulder surgery. Randle hasn't played in two months, but there was hope he would be able to return for the playoffs. That hope has now died, which is a brutal blow for a Knicks team who looked like they could play spoiler in the Eastern Conference this postseason. New York is currently in fifth place in the East and while they should stay above the play-in game, they may not be able to do much come playoff time. They're currently projected to square off against the Orlando Magic in the first round.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll. Follow him on Substack: griffybets.substack.com.