The most frenzied betting period in the US sporting calendar begins this week and there are several intriguing clashes to look forward to as college basketball’s finest teams go all out to win the NCAA Championship. March Madness begins with the First Four, a series of four games that whittles the pool down from 68 teams to 64. Then a round robin style tournament starts, with 64 becoming 32, then 16 and so on until the best two teams compete in the final.
First Four
This is similar to the wildcard round in the NFL playoffs and features the four lowest ranked at-large teams and the lowest automatic bid teams. There are four games and the winners progress to the First Round, while the losers go home. This year the fixtures are New Orleans v Mt St Mary’s; Wake Forest v Kansas State; NC Central v UC Davis; and Providence v USC. These games are hard to call, but New Orleans should beat Mt St Mary’s and the 5/6 on offer at Ladbrokes looks good. NC Central was superb in winning its three games by an average of 23.7 points in the MEAC Tournament and they can be confident of beating UC Davis. You can get 5/9 with Bet365, but for more value go NC Central -4 at 10/11 with Bet365. Providence v USC looks close but USC should shade it (4/6 with Bet365), while the 10/11 Coral has on Wake Forest beating Kansas State looks risky but interesting.
First Round
The First Round starts on Thursday and this is where the real excitement begins. With the First Four out of the way, all the remaining teams in March Madness go into a knockout tournament, and by the end of this round, only 32 will be left standing. You can expect Villanova, Kansas, SMU and UCLA to instantly knock out the teams that progress from the First Four. Highly rated teams Gonzaga, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona should also win their games pretty comfortably. That sounds like an interesting 10-team accumulator right there.
Elsewhere the 10th seeded Wichita State Shockers play the 7th seeded Dayton Flyers and should win that one at 4/11 with Bet365 as the Shockers have looked very dominant in recent weeks. The Wisconsin Badgers are 4/9 with Bet Victor to beat Virginia Tech and should pull it off as you would expect seniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig to prove too strong for the inexperienced Virginia Tech. A tight looking game sees Vanderbilt face Northwestern, and the 10/11 on Northwestern +1 at Bet365 looks good. Another trendy upset pick is Rhode Island to beat Creighton. Rhode Island won the A-10 Championship with a 70-63 victory over the VCU and has a strong defensive record along with excellent three-pointer stats. Creighton lost four of their last six games and struggled offensively, so Rhode Island could shut them out for large periods, and Rhode Island +1 looks interesting at 20/21 with Ladbrokes.
Futures
Select committee chairman Mark Hollis has declared that this year’s March Madness bracket is the most competitive he has ever seen, and experts are divided over who will seize the crown. The NC Tar Heels have been made 15/2 favourite with Betway, followed by Kansas (17/2 with Bet365), Gonzaga (9/1 with William Hill), Villanova (9/1 with Betway), Duke (10/1 with Bet Victor), Kentucky (11/1 with Bet365) and Arizona (14/1 with William Hill). It is very close and congested, emphasising Hollis’ point. Villanova has been made the overall top seed and the defending champion looks a good bet at 9/1. But the team with real momentum is Kansas and they look a great option at 17/2. Pre-season favourite Duke has secured a comfortable draw and can go far, while Arizona is a great longer shot at 14/1. To make things really interesting, you could back Kansas, Villanova, Duke and Arizona and if any come in you would still be well in profit. If you had to go for just one, Kansas is the team to beat.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
