Duke, Arizona, Michigan And Florida Lead Title Odds For March
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The No. 1 seeds had a clear separation over the rest of the field when in 2015's NCAA Tournamentbracket was exposed and it played out that way with all those groups reaching the Final 4.
This year's front runners - Duke, Arizona, Michigan and defending national champion Florida - are the favorites at BetMGM Sportsbook to win the nationwide title.
Bruce Marshall, handicapper for WagerTalk/Gold Sheet, stated he could see a number of other teams breaking through to make the Final Four in Indianapolis.
"I don't believe we'll see all of them (No. 1 seeds) in the Final 4," Marshall said. "Maybe somebody slips through on the three-line. I 'd see Virginia possibly. They have actually got a quite good prospective road in their region. That's Michigan's area. I think Michigan is beatable now."
That stated, Marshall said it's not that different from last season in which just a couple of teams have a realistic chance to win all of it.
The NCAA selection committee also appeared to get many of the first-round matches right, a minimum of if passing the chances. There are just 2 favorites that are the lower-seeded teams, a set of 8-9 matches with Utah State preferred by 2 1/2 points over Villanova and Iowa by the exact same number over Clemson.
"We ´ re expecting a relatively chalky tournament this year, similar to what we saw last season," said Patrick Berbert, college basketball trader at Caesars Sportsbook. "The NIL age has actually truly expanded the gap between the leading programs and the rest of the field. From a wagering perspective, we ´ re predicting record engagement again."
Connecticut is a big favorite at BetMGM and Caesars to win the women's NCAA Tournament for the 2nd year in a row.
The Huskies as a two-seed defeated 3 No. 1sts to win the 2025 title, but there is no slipping up on this year ´ s field.
"UConn has been incredibly dominant, winning 29 straight games by double digits," Berbert stated. "It ´ s among the more amazing runs we ´ ve seen in current memory, which supremacy is shown in their existing title cost of -280. ... In our view, UCLA presents the greatest potential challenge, but overall, it ´ s hard to see many teams standing in UConn ´ s way if they continue dipping into this level."
On the males's side, Michigan and Florida weren't punished by the committee for losing in their conference competition and were offered No. 1 seeds.
Duke endured 2 scares in winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, beating Florida State by a point and Virginia by four in the title video game.
Arizona had the best week of the front runners but had to be at its best to beat Iowa State and Houston by a combined seven indicate record the Big 12 Conference Tournament champion.
"When we get to the Big Dance, what happens in the conference tournaments usually does not matter," Marshall stated. "Teams that lose in the conference tournaments often wind up winning the entire thing. It may not be the very best thing to play 3, four days in a row in the week before the tournament, so I don't check out excessive into it."
Bettors frequently look beyond the favorites in hopes of receiving a bigger payout by on a group that gets hot.
Johnny Avello, sports operations director for DraftKings Sportsbook, said he is seeing UConn and Arkansas. DraftKings lists the Huskies at 30-1 odds and the Razorbacks at 60-1 despite the fact that Arkansas won the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
"In the future book, there are a couple of clear favorites at the top of the board, however there ´ s also a lot of value in the middle of the pack," Avello said. "Bettors can still discover attractive costs on teams that have shown they can play at a high level this season."
It's almost become anticipated that a minimum of one No. 12 seed will defeat a No. 5 in the preliminary.
Texas Tech is the quickest preferred at BetMGM, listed at 7 1/2 points over Akron. Wisconsin is preferred by 9 1/2 over High Point, Vanderbilt by 11 1/2 over McNeese State, and St. John's by 11 1/2 over Northern Iowa.
Marshall stated he might see Akron and McNeese pulling the upsets.
"I do not believe St. John's will lose to Northern Iowa," stated Marshall, who noted he thought the Red Storm were underseeded. "It'll just be a difficult video game. And I believe Wisconsin will beat High Point, although High Point's type of fun to watch."
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness