Sweet 16 Thursday: Betting Odds and Trends

The opening day of the Sweet 16 tips off Thursday with the new tournament favorite, the Kansas Jayhawks, looking to advance past the Purdue Boilermakers.

With former tournament favorite Duke done, the No. 1 seed Jayhawks are a +475 favorite to win the Big Dance at the Bovada sportsbook. They’re also a 5.5-point favorite in their matchup with the No. 4 Boilermakers.

Kansas had no trouble in the Round of 32 with a 90-70 win over the Michigan State Spartans as a 7.5-point favorite. They’re now 10-1 straight up in their last 11 games but could improve against the spread where they’re only 6-4-1.

Purdue got past the Iowa State Cyclones 80-76 as 1-point favorite last round. Being listed as the underdog versus Kansas may be their undoing in the tournament. Purdue has lost seven straight as the underdog at 2-5 ATS and in the last 12 they’re 1-11 SU and 6-6 ATS.

The other No. 1 seed still standing and in action on Thursday are the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They get the No. 4 West Virginia Mountaineers as a 3-point favorite.

The Bulldogs are 0-2 ATS in the tournament so far, and a lackluster 3-5 ATS in their last eight games. West Virginia isn’t much better at 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games and they’re 0-3 SU and ATS in their last three versus Gonzaga.

In Thursday’s No. 7 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 3 Oregon Ducks matchup the lower-seeded Wolverines are the favorite at -1.5. Michigan is on a seven-game winning streak during which they are 6-1 ATS. They’re also a stout 8-1 SU and 6-3 ATS in their last nine as a favorite.

Last round Oregon survived a scare versus the Rhode Island Rams, winning 75-72 as a 4.5-point favorite. The last time they faced Michigan in 2014 they lost 70-63 as a 4-point underdog.

The last game on the Thursday schedule pits the lowest remaining seed, the No. 11 Xavier Musketeers, against the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats as a 7.5-point underdog.

The Musketeers already have two wins as the underdog in the tournament and they’ve won four straight when listed as the underdog. Arizona is on a six-game winning streak with a 5-1 ATS record.

Arizona and Xavier clashed in the Sweet 16 at the 2015 NCAA Tournament and the Wildcats posted a 68-60 victory as an 11.5-point favorite.