Spartans Overlooked as Top Seed, Emerge as March Madness Betting Favorites
Michigan State failed to earn a top seeding in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but the Spartans have opened at the top of the March Madness odds, deadlocked with the Kansas Jayhawks as 5/1 favorites in college basketball futures betting at sportsbooks available through BettingSports.com, the premier online resource for sports betting news and insights.
The Spartans extended their current straight up win streak with a narrow 66-62 win over Purdue on Sunday to claim their third Big Ten Tournament championship in five years, but have to settle for second-seeding in the Midwest Region, where they will open March Madness on Friday as big 17.5-point favorites over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
Kansas heads to the Big Dance as the No. 1 seed in the South after running the table at the Big 12 Tourney, improving their overall record to 30-4 SU, and justifying their position as the top-ranked team in the nation in the AP Top 25.
The Jayhawks will have to contend with challenges from No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Miami, and No. 4 California to reach the Final Four, but must first get past the upstart Austin-Peay Governors, who have defied the oddsmakers on their drive to a March Madness berth, capped by four upset wins in four days last week to capture the Ohio Valley Tournament crown as a No. 8 seed.
The Governors make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008, and will be searching for their first tourney win since 1987 when they take on Kansas on Thursday as 25.5-point underdogs at the online sportsbooks.
The North Carolina Tar Heels rolled to a fifth straight SU win in the ACC Tournament championship game, topping the rival Virginia Cavaliers by a 61-57, and covering as 2.5-point favorites.
With the win, UNC clinched top seeding in the East, and could be worth using a free bet on at sportsbooks available through BettingSports.com, where they closely trail the Spartans and Jayhawks, with 7/1 odds in March Madness betting.
Despite their loss to the Tar Heels, Virginia has also emerged as a No. 1 seed, perched atop the Midwest Region bracket, where they must get past the Spartans to reach the Final Four, and are pegged at an intriguing 12/1 on the college basketball futures odds.
The Cavaliers, against the spread winners in their past three as double-digit chalk, take on No. 16 Hampton in the First Round, favored by a huge 23.5 points at the online sportsbooks.
Virginia is joined on the March Madness odds by a pair of Wildcats squads, Villanova and Kentucky, each listed at a solid 12/1.
Villanova, which sat atop the AP Top 25 for three weeks in February, kicks off their tourney as 17.5-point favorites against the North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs, while Kentucky, fresh off an 82-77 win over Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, carries a five-game SU and ATS win streak into their First Round clash with the Stony Brook Seawolves, favored by 14.5.
The Oregon Ducks round out the group of No. 1 seeds, leading the way in the West Region.
Oregon closely follows Virginia and the Wildcats on the tournament odds at 14/1, while the Oklahoma Sooners, who many observers expected to enter the NCAA Tournament as a top seed, sit as No. 2 in the West, and at 18/1 on the March Madness odds.
