How to bet Saturday's national semifinal games: Who will win the rematch between Illinois and UConn? - ESPN

The national semifinals for the 2026 men's basketball tournament take place Saturday with a pair of highly anticipated matchups.

The action tips off when 3-seed Illinois (-1.5, over/under 139.5) takes on 2-seed UConn at 6:09 p.m. ET, followed by a showdown between pair of No. 1 seeds, Michigan (-1.5, O/U 157.5) and Arizona, at approximately 8:49 p.m.

Here are my selections for these games and the final two picks for the new ESPN Men's Tournament Challenge Eliminator game.

Note: Odds by DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publication time and subject to change.

This national semifinal is a rematch of two teams that met back in late November at Madison Square Garden. It's really tough to stand in front of UConn and bet against them, especially after what we just saw in the game against Duke on Sunday. However, this is a much different Illinois team now. The Illini are the most efficient offense in the country. When you have two teams that play slow to very slow in a game with limited possessions, give me the better-shooting squad with the more efficient offense.

The best, and likely the only, way for UConn to win this game is to muck it up and keep it a low-scoring affair. That's what the Huskies did in November. They will be charged with the task of keeping Illinois' team shooting to around 42% or worse. Five of Illinois' eight losses have come when it shot 42.5% or worse from the field — and two of those games went to overtime. The Illini have been held to fewer than 70 points just twice this season, but one of them was the game against UConn, which held them to a season-low 61 points.

The Illini have the edge in size and on the boards and can play inside better than UConn. They also take care of the ball better, with the