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 revealed and it played out that way with all those teams reaching the Final 4.


This year's front runners - Duke, Arizona, Michigan and defending nationwide champion Florida - are the favorites at BetMGM Sportsbook to win the nationwide title.


Bruce Marshall, handicapper for WagerTalk/Gold Sheet, said he could see a couple of other teams breaking through to make the Final Four in Indianapolis.


"I do not think we'll see all of them (No. 1 seeds) in the Final 4," Marshall stated. "Maybe somebody sneaks through on the three-line. I 'd watch Virginia perhaps. They've got a respectable possible road in their region. That's Michigan's region. I think Michigan is beatable now."


That said, Marshall stated it's not that different from last season in which just a couple of groups have a reasonable chance to win all of it.


The NCAA choice committee also appeared to get the majority of the first-round matches right, a minimum of if going by the chances. There are just 2 favorites that are the lower-seeded groups, a set of 8-9 matchups with Utah State preferred by 2 1/2 points over Villanova and Iowa by the same number over Clemson.


"We ´ re expecting a fairly milky competition this year, comparable to what we saw last season," stated Patrick Berbert, college basketball trader at Caesars Sportsbook. "The NIL era has actually really widened the gap in between the top programs and the rest of the field. From a betting standpoint, we ´ re projecting record engagement once again."


Connecticut is a huge favorite at BetMGM and Caesars to win the women's NCAA for the second year in a row.


The Huskies as a two-seed beat 3 No. 1s to win the 2025 title, however there is no sneaking up on this year ´ s field.


"UConn has actually been extremely dominant, winning 29 straight games by double digits," Berbert stated. "It ´ s one of the more exceptional runs we ´ ve seen in current memory, and that dominance is reflected in their existing title rate of -280. ... In our view, UCLA presents the greatest capacity obstacle, but overall, it ´ s hard to see numerous groups standing in UConn ´ s way if they continue playing at this level."


On the males's side, Michigan and Florida weren't penalized by the committee for losing in their conference tournament and were provided No. 1 seeds.


Duke made it through 2 scares in winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, beating Florida State by a point and Virginia by four in the title game.


Arizona had the best week of the top seeds but needed to be at its best to beat Iowa State and Houston by a combined 7 indicate record the Big 12 Conference Tournament champion.


"When we get to the Big Dance, what takes place in the conference competitions usually doesn't matter," Marshall stated. "Teams that lose in the conference tournaments frequently end up winning the whole 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 often look beyond the favorites in hopes of getting a larger payment by striking on a group that gets hot.


Johnny Avello, sports operations director for DraftKings Sportsbook, stated he is viewing 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 few 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 find appealing costs on teams that have shown they can play at a high level this season."


It's almost ended up being expected that a minimum of one No. 12 seed will defeat a No. 5 in the preliminary.


Texas Tech is the fastest favorite at BetMGM, noted 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 said he could see Akron and McNeese pulling the upsets.


"I do not think St. John's will lose to Northern Iowa," stated Marshall, who noted he believed the Red Storm were underseeded. "It'll just be a hard video game. And I think Wisconsin will beat High Point, although Peak's sort of fun to watch."


AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness