Tag: March Madness odds

March Madness: Sweet 16 is Set and Betting Frenzy Continues

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

We are now into the second week of March Madness and the Sweet 16 is set, with only the NCAA’s top teams left standing. They are now just four games away from winning the NCAA Championship and enjoying hero status in their respective hometowns. But this year’s tournament is ferociously competitive, and the eventual winner will have to fight every inch of the way.

Futures Update

Three-quarters of the teams have been eliminated from March Madness and only the strongest are left. There have been some huge upsets along the way, particularly in the East, where defending champion Villanova and pre-season favourite Duke have both already been knocked out. Wisconsin, Florida, and South Carolina are now fighting it out there, and it now looks the weakest region. In the other three regions the big guns have made it through: Kansas is still standing in the Midwest, in the West the prospect of Gonzaga and Arizona meeting in the Elite Eight looks a distinct possibility still, and North Carolina, UCLA and Kentucky are all through in the South.

Despite having the hardest run to the Big Dance (for the uninitiated it goes First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and the Big Dance), North Carolina is still the favourite at 6/1 with Ladbrokes. At those odds, it looks risky. The Tar Heels should beat fourth-seeded Butler but then will face either UCLA or Kentucky, both of whom could easily knock them out. Gonzaga is second favourite, 7/1 with Sky Bet, but it too has a nightmare road to the final, with the Arizona Wildcats (8/1 with Ladbrokes) in the way. The winner is unlikely to come from the East, where the best-priced team is Baylor, trading up to 33/1. A shrewd bet could be Kansas, 11/2 with Bet365, which has arguably the easiest run. Purdue is a strong team but beatable, and then they would have to overcome Oregon or Michigan to make the Final Four. You can also go each-way and get half the odds if they make the final. An interesting long-shot could be UCLA, 16/1 with Bet Victor, which has an incredible offence and could be dangerous in the West.

Upcoming Games

The first four Sweet 16 games take place on Friday and feature the two favourites in Kansas and Gonzaga. Both face tough games. Gonzaga is up against the strongest fourth seed, West Virginia, which annihilated Notre Dame with its pressing defence. It is likely to be a close encounter, but the Zags should scrape it (13/20 with Bet Victor). Kansas plays Purdue, a dark horse for the tournament thanks to its formidable front court and the form of Caleb Swanigan. The Jayhawks should get the job done (4/9 with Bet365) but Purdue -5 looks an interesting spread at 20/21 with Ladbrokes. Arizona should beat Xavier (2/7 with Bet365), so a treble of Arizona-Kansas-Gonzaga looks good, but Michigan v Oregon looks too close to call so is probably best avoided.

March Madness: Rhode Island can spring an upset against Creighton

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The First Round of March Madness concludes on Friday with 15 games that feature some of the leading contenders to win the NCAA Championship. There is plenty of value to be had, and here we pick out some of the most intriguing games:

Michigan v Oklahoma State

This is one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the tournament as it comes less than 10 games after the Michigan team escaped unscathed from a plane crash. They were evacuated from the runway and ended the week as Big 10 champions. Michigan was seeded eighth and had to beat top seed Purdue, then fourth-seeded Minnesota and finally second-seeded Wisconsin to win the automatic bid for March Madness. The Wolverines pulled it off in style and go into the NCAA Tournament full of belief and heart. Confidence pride is on the line as this pits the Big Ten against the Big 12, and Michigan can win it. Oklahoma State has had a turbulent season and is 0-7 in March, while Michigan has won five straight against top notch opposition, so the 8/11 that 888Sport has on Michigan looks great.

Creighton v Rhode Island

The Creighton Bluejays go into this game as slight favourites (10/11 with William Hill), while Rhode Island is the underdog at 19/20 with BetVictor. Creighton is the sixth seed, while Rhode Island is 11, but Rhode Island looks to have been under-seeded here. The Rams are a very good team and can harbour realistic hopes of not only beating Creighton but going as far as the Sweet Sixteen or even the Elite Eight. They would be unlikely to get past Kansas, but they can really go on a run in this bracket. These two teams come into March Madness as polar opposites. Creighton started the season sensationally as it raced to an 18-1 record. Then they lost star player Maurice Watson and have since gone 7-8. The Rams have momentum, having finished the regular season with eight straight wins and then earned three victories in a row to claim the A-10 Championship. That 19/20 on Rhode Island at BetVictor looks great value.

Seton Hall v Arkansas

This is a classic 8/9 game featuring an eighth and ninth seed that are virtually impossible to split, such are the similarities between the two teams. It is an interesting game as the winner will surely go on to face tournament favourites North Carolina in the next round, where they are overwhelmingly likely to be knocked out. But they will give this game all they have got and it is likely to be ferociously competitive. Arkansas plays with intensity and energy and has the better record, but Seton Hall has more impressive wins under its belt and loves to slow the game down. The two styles contrast and we could be in for a low-scoring game here, so the best bet could well be the under 146.5 total points at 10/11 with Bet365.

March Madness Betting Begins: First Round Picks and Futures Predictions

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

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.