College basketball bets: Two teams to target in the Final Four market

The college basketball season is starting to heat up, and once the NFL season ends at the Super Bowl in a few weeks, March Madness will be at the forefront of every bettor's mind. Let's get out ahead of the rush with two Final Four bets we love at their current prices. 

Houston Cougars (+230 FanDuel)

Houston is one of the top betting favorites to win the national title this year, and for good reason. The Cougars have the best defense in the country by almost every metric. 

KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric has Houston giving up 85.7 points per 100 possessions. The next closest team is Tennessee at 91.5, which is a massive difference of 5.8 points per 100 possessions. For reference, the difference between Houston and Tennessee is the same difference between Tennessee and the 27th-ranked team in the same metric. 

On offense, the Cougars are led by two experienced guards in L.J. Cryer and Jamal Shead. Guard play and defense typically lead to success in March, plus Houston is likely to end up with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is our favorite team to back at the top of the Final Four market. 

Colorado Buffaloes (+2800 FD)

Now let's try for a longshot. 

Colorado is one of the most underrated teams in the country. The Buffaloes can really fill it up on offense, as they rank 25th in points per game, 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency and 17th in effective field goal percentage. But the biggest reason we like Colorado's upside is that it ranks 11th in the country in three-point field goal percentage. 

Guard KJ Simpson is a microwave scorer who averages 19.0 points per game and shoots 45.9 percent from three. He also drains 88.3 percent of his free throws, which is a valuable weapon when closing out games. This team can catch fire in March and make a run.