The Daily Sweat: Can San Diego State keep it close against red-hot UConn?

There haven't been many NCAA tournaments that have given us more entertainment than this one.

San Diego State's buzzer-beating win on Saturday continued the drama and put SDSU into the title game. UConn's win over Miami wasn't as exciting but it continued the Huskies' dominant tournament. We've had great games and unique storylines, and now we're down to one game left in the season.

Here's the against-the-spread pick for the title game, with the odds from BetMGM:

San Diego State (+7.5) over UConn

UConn opened as a 6-point favorite. Then very quickly, it moved a point and a half. All the money poured in on the Huskies.

It's understandable. The one predictable thing in this tournament has been UConn. The Huskies have been dominant from the first round on, and that continued in a 72-59 win over Miami that never even seemed that close. In a Final Four that included no top-three seeds and three programs that were seeking their first championship, UConn seemed like the one that fit.

We do need to give San Diego State some respect though. SDSU played elite defense for weeks to get to first win the Mountain West tournament and then get to the Final Four. When Florida Atlantic hit shots against SDSU, the Aztecs found a way to erase a big second-half deficit and win at the buzzer on Lamont Butler's instantly iconic shot. SDSU has earned its way to the final Monday night of the season.

It will be a much different challenge against UConn, which is an impressive college team. But SDSU has shown it can at least keep a game close. I'll take the points with a very good defensive team and hope for a competitive title game.

Final Four record: 1-1

Tournament record to date: 31-35

Here's the first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:

MLB continues on

Baseball returned with some buzz. The pitch clock has tightened up games and other rule changes have had a positive effect. It was a good start for a sport that needed it.

We get a couple of early afternoon games as the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox have home openers. The Brewers are -120 favorites against the New York Mets, and the White Sox are -130 favorites against the San Francisco Giants.

Later on, a pretty good series opens in the Bronx when the Philadelphia Phillies play at the New York Yankees. The Yankees are a heavy -175 favorite. It's good to have baseball (and baseball betting) back.

No NBA, but NHL

The NBA is taking the night off, presumably in deference to the NCAA tournament final, but the NHL has a few games.

Of the three games on the NHL slate, the best one is the Vegas Golden Knights at the Minnesota Wild. The Wild is a -135 favorite.

What's the best bet?

We have SDSU and the points above, but I'll all the Kansas City Royals as a +110 home underdog against the Toronto Blue Jays. Royals starter Brady Singer is underrated and I'll back him at home.