Alabama took the top spot overall, but bookies see Houston as the clear favorite to win the national championship ahead of what bookies say is the wide-open NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Houston, the top seed in the Midwest region, is 6-1 at Caesars, followed by Alabama at 7-1, Kansas (8-1) and Purdue (10-1) in first place. chances.
On Sunday, before the bracket was released, eight teams were 15-1 or less in the Caesars Sportsbook for the title. Four of those teams — Kansas, UCLA, Gonzaga, and UC Connecticut — landed in the Western Region.
Houston will lose to Memphis on Sunday in the AAC Tournament Championship. Cougars defenseman Markus Sasser, the team’s leading scorer, was out of Sunday’s championship game after suffering a groin injury against Cincinnati on Saturday.
Houston opens the NCAA Tournament on Thursday against Northern Kentucky. The Cougars are the favorites with 19.5 points.
Kansas also lost its conference tournament championship, losing to Texas on Saturday. The reigning national champion Jayhawks were without coach Bill Self, who was hospitalized with an unknown condition but was released on Sunday and is expected to return this week.
Kansas, which is trying to become its first consecutive national champion since 2007, begins its title defense against Howard on Thursday. The Jayhawks are favorites with 21.5 points.
More bets have been placed and more money wagered on Kansas winning the national championship than any other team at BetMGM bookmakers.
“The NCAA tournament is wide open this year,” Seamus Magee, sports trader at BetMGM, said in a company announcement. “We expect more action than ever with more contenders on the field.”
On Sunday, shortly after the table was published, the bookies published the spread of points in the games of the first four and the first round. The three lower seeds – #9 West Virginia, #9 Auburn, #10 Utah – opened as favorites over the taller seeds. The line at the No. 10 seed in Boise State against the No. 7 seed in the Northwest opened at their pick in Caesars Sportsbook.
The Final Four kicks off April 1 in Houston, with the National Championship game scheduled for April 3.
Source: www.espn.com
