With the NCAA regional matchups in place, college basketball bettors have a good idea of which teams have the easiest and toughest paths to the national championship. Along with a slew of game lines, books also released their updated outright winner odds on Selection Sunday and bettors were quick to jump on a few contenders.
The two most notable NCAA futures plays both came out of the Sunshine State. The No. 3 Florida Gators and No. 2 Miami Hurricanes took substantial early action with bettors buying up the Gators at +900 and Miami at +1300.
“Interesting sharp betting patterns have seen both of Florida’s giants as early favorites for outright tournament winner props,” an oddsmaker for BetDSI.com told Covers. “The Florida Gators are seeing some action and the Miami Hurricanes are getting some sharp money love.”
Miami could end up being a big loser for sportsbooks – which means a big winner for NCAAB bettors – if the Hurricanes continue their hot play following an ACC tournament title. According to CarbonSports.ag, plenty of bettors scooped up Miami at 100-1 to win the NCAA tournament before its strong conference run.
“No question we will be rooting against the Miami Hurricanes,” Michael Stewart, an oddsmaker for CarbonSports.ag told Covers. “Miami surprised a lot of experts and surprised us. It only takes a few bets at that kind of price to get exposed and that’s what happened to us.”
On top of those two Florida teams, programs like Kansas State, Ohio State and Indiana also pose a big threat to the books’ futures market. According to Jeff Stoneback, sportsbook manager at the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas, the Hoosiers and Buckeyes are neck-and-neck in terms of futures tickets written.
Indiana has been a popular play all season and continues to get support from bettors as the No. 1 seed in the East Regional. The Hoosiers were around +700 to win the NCAA for most of the year and now sit at +600 entering the Round of 64. Duke is also among those favorites drawing futures money for most of the season. The No. 2 Blue Devils are +800 coming out of a tough Midwest bracket.
“Not surprising as both teams have been ranked near the top of the polls all year, and we’re also talking about two storied universities with tons of history and popularity,” Stewart says of IU and Duke. “But at those low prices, we’ll be able to balance out that action.”
Here’s a full list of the tournament outright winner odds:
Louisville +500
Indiana +600
Kansas +800
Gonzaga +800
Duke +800
Miami FL +1,000
Georgetown +1,000
Ohio St +1,500 Bet
Michigan St +1,200
Marquette +2,500
Florida +1,000
New Mexico +1,500
St Louis +2,000
Syracuse +1,500
Michigan +1,500
Kansas St +3,000
Oklahoma St +4,000
UNLV +3,000
VCU +3,000
Wisconsin +4,000
Memphis +7,500
Butler +7,500
UCLA +5,000
Arizona +4,000
Creighton +7,500
Illinois +10,000
San Diego St +10,000
Notre Dame +10,000
Colorado St +10,000
North Carolina St +5,000
North Carolina +5,000
Pittsburgh +5,000
Missouri +5,000
Temple +10,000
Villanova +10,000
Wichita St +10,000
Cincinnati +10,000
Colorado +10,000
Oklahoma +10,000
Iowa St +10,000
Middle Tennessee +30,000
St Marys +30,000
Bucknell +20,000
Minnesota +15,000
Belmont +20,000
Oregon +15,000
California +25,000
Akron +30,000
Ole Miss +25,000
New Mexico St +50,000
Montana +50,000
South Dakota St +50,000
Boise St +50,000
LaSalle +50,000
Valparasio +50,000
Davidson +50,000
Northwestern St +100,000
Harvard +100,000
Albany +100,000
Pacific +100,000
Florida GC +100,000
Iona +100,000
Liberty +100,000
North Carolina A&T +100,000
LIU-Brooklyn +100,000
James Madison +100,000
Western Kentucky +100,000
Southern +100,000
Odds courtesy of TopBet.eu.