With the Super Bowl in the rearview mirror, sportsbooks are turning their attention to the biggest betting event of the year: March Madness. At the Westgate SuperBook, Arizona and Michigan share the top spot as +450 co-favorites to win the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, with Duke at 7-1 as the only other single-digit odds team.
Westgate oddsmaker Ed Salmons noted the rarity of two teams at such low odds this late in the season. “I don’t remember two teams being this low this deep in the year. Usually, it’s just one,” he said. Salmons also expressed skepticism about Duke and Arizona, saying, “Duke’s a little bit young, so I kind of question how good they’re going to be. Arizona is young, too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they get knocked off.”
Arizona, which fell to Kansas 82-78 on Monday to drop to 23-1, opened at 40-1 at both the Westgate and BetMGM. At BetMGM, the Wildcats are now the sole +375 favorite after a bettor placed a $50,000 wager to win $225,000 at +450. Arizona leads BetMGM in money wagered and is the book’s biggest liability. Michigan, which opened at 25-1 at BetMGM, leads in ticket count and ranks third in money. Duke is second in tickets and third in money at BetMGM.
UConn is second in money and the second-largest liability at BetMGM, which took a $25,000 bet to win $225,000 on the Huskies at 12-1 at the SuperBook. “It’s hard to tell how good UConn is going to be because the Big East is so down this year,” Salmons said. “You watch them, and they look the part. They’re very athletic, they have a ton of big bodies, and they’ve been there before and won before, so you can never discount them.”
BetMGM also took a $25,000 wager on Houston at 11-1 to win $275,000. The Cougars are tied with Illinois and defending national champion Florida at 10-1 as the fourth choice at the Westgate. “Houston seems to be really rounding into shape,” Salmons said.
Florida and Illinois are the largest liabilities at the Westgate, where both opened at 30-1. “Florida won last year, so people were betting them right away,” Salmons said. “Illinois has a ton of guys that can make 3s, and they’re a pretty athletic team. But Illinois has that history of playing a bad game when they don’t need it. Florida’s a big team that can bully a bunch of teams, but they’re going to have some games where they need to make 3s, and shooting is their weakness.”
Among sleepers, Iowa State is 16-1 at the Westgate, followed by Gonzaga, Kansas, and Purdue at 20-1, and Nebraska at 25-1. Michigan State is 30-1, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt are 40-1, and Arkansas and BYU are 50-1 (BYU is 66-1 at BetMGM). “I still believe in Texas Tech. I love their coach,” Salmons said. “Given the right seeding, I think they can make a run. We have them at 40, so there’s some value on them.”
In Super Bowl 61 futures, the Seattle Seahawks are the consensus favorites at 9-1 at the Westgate, with the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions tied at 10-1. The Westgate took a bet on Detroit at 14-1 to win six figures. “We just made Seattle a tiny favorite just because they won,” Salmons said. The San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Los Angeles Chargers are 14-1, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and Baltimore Ravens at 16-1. The Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals are 20-1; the Broncos are the money leaders and biggest liabilities at BetMGM.
