Kentucky Heads to Sweet 16 as Madness Chalk

The biggest storyline surrounding this season’s NCAA Tournament has been the Kentucky Wildcats’ quest for a perfect straight-up run to a national title. Through the first two rounds the Wildcats remain right on track with two double-digits wins, but they did fail to cover some pretty hefty spreads in both of those contests.

Now that the original field of 68 teams has been pared down to the Sweet 16, Bovada has reshuffled the deck on its odds to win the national title. Kentucky started March Madness as a 6/5 favorite to win it all and its betting odds now stand at an even 1/1. It will face No. 5 West Virginia in a Midwest Region semifinal matchup this Thursday night. If the Wildcats keep rolling they will face the winner of the No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Notre Dame game in the Elite Eight this Saturday.

The second-favorite to win the national title on the Bovada betting board is Duke at 7/1 odds. The top-seeded Blue Devils, out of the South Region, have already gotten past No. 16 Robert Morris and No. 8 San Diego State (both SU and ATS) to set up a showdown with No. 5 Utah this Friday night.  The other semifinal matchup in that region pits No. 2 Gonzaga against the surprising No. 11 UCLA Bruins.

The Arizona Wildcats opened March Madness as 15/2 second-favorites to win the NCAA Tournament, with Wisconsin a close third at 17/2 betting odds. Both of these powers began play in the West Region with the Badgers earning the top seed and the Wildcats seeded second. They remain on a collision course to meet in the Elite Eight with identical 8/1 odds to win this season’s national title at Bovada. Wisconsin will first have to get past No. 4 North Carolina this Thursday, while the Wildcats will face No. 6 Xavier later that night.

The East Region got turned upside down with both No. 1 Villanova and No. 2 Virginia making an early exit in their third-round matchup, so the team left in that region with the best odds at Bovada to win it all is the No. 7 Michigan State Spartans at 12/1; they pulled off the 60-54 upset against the Cavaliers as 4.5-point underdogs. This Friday the Spartans will be back in action against No. 3 Oklahoma.