March Madness Odds Update

Despite a scare from the Central Florida Knights in the Round of 32, the Duke Blue Devils remain the favorite in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

At Bovada Sportsbook, Duke is the +300 favorite on the NCAA Tournament futures odds. In the Round of 32, the Blue Devils almost busted a ton of brackets and a ton of futures bets when they barely got past Central Florida 77-76. Duke was a 13-point favorite in that game and now stands at 0-2 against the spread in the tournament and 1-6 ATS in its last seven games.

If Duke does survive to make it to the championship game, there’s a good chance it’ll face one of the other top seeds – the Virginia Cavaliers, North Carolina Tar Heels or Gonzaga Bulldogs. Interestingly, Duke faced all three teams during the season, compiling a 3-3 record in six contests. That includes two losses to North Carolina and a loss to Gonzaga.

Following Duke on the March Madness futures are Virginia at +425, Gonzaga at +450 and North Carolina at +650.

Virginia +425 to win national championship

The Cavaliers put last year’s colossal failure of becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 behind them to cruise past the first two rounds this year. Next up for Virginia is an upstart Oregon Ducks squad that enters the matchup having won 10 straight both straight up and ATS.

Gonzaga easily advanced through the first two rounds while going 1-1 ATS. In the Sweet 16, the Bulldogs are 3-6 SU and 2-5-2 ATS in their last nine, but when favored in the tournament, they’re 9-1 SU in their last 10.

The Tar Heels failed to cover vs the Iona Gaels in their opener, winning by 15 as a 24.5-point favorite, and dominated their Round of 32 matchup with the Washington Huskies 81-59 as 11.5-point chalk. Next they’ll face the Auburn Tigers, who have won 10 straight, including three as an underdog.

Michigan State at +1000 tops outside 1 seeds

The first team to show up on the futures that isn’t a No. 1 seed is the Michigan State Spartans at +1000. They’re followed by the Kentucky Wildcats at +1200 and the Michigan Wolverines and Tennessee Volunteers, both at +1500.

The Spartans have won seven straight but face a tough LSU Tigers team next that has won six straight as an underdog.

Kentucky and Michigan are both 2-0 ATS in the tournament so far. As a favorite in the tournament, the Wolverines have won 15 straight, while Kentucky is 8-1 SU in its last nine Sweet 16 matchups.

The Volunteers have history against them in their search for their first-ever national title, as they are 1-4 SU in their last five Sweet 16 games.