Tag: Villanova

March Madness Betting Begins: First Round Picks and Futures Predictions

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The most frenzied betting period in the US sporting calendar begins this week and there are several intriguing clashes to look forward to as college basketball’s finest teams go all out to win the NCAA Championship. March Madness begins with the First Four, a series of four games that whittles the pool down from 68 teams to 64. Then a round robin style tournament starts, with 64 becoming 32, then 16 and so on until the best two teams compete in the final.

First Four

This is similar to the wildcard round in the NFL playoffs and features the four lowest ranked at-large teams and the lowest automatic bid teams. There are four games and the winners progress to the First Round, while the losers go home. This year the fixtures are New Orleans v Mt St Mary’s; Wake Forest v Kansas State; NC Central v UC Davis; and Providence v USC. These games are hard to call, but New Orleans should beat Mt St Mary’s and the 5/6 on offer at Ladbrokes looks good. NC Central was superb in winning its three games by an average of 23.7 points in the MEAC Tournament and they can be confident of beating UC Davis. You can get 5/9 with Bet365, but for more value go NC Central -4 at 10/11 with Bet365. Providence v USC looks close but USC should shade it (4/6 with Bet365), while the 10/11 Coral has on Wake Forest beating Kansas State looks risky but interesting.

First Round

The First Round starts on Thursday and this is where the real excitement begins. With the First Four out of the way, all the remaining teams in March Madness go into a knockout tournament, and by the end of this round, only 32 will be left standing. You can expect Villanova, Kansas, SMU and UCLA to instantly knock out the teams that progress from the First Four. Highly rated teams Gonzaga, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona should also win their games pretty comfortably. That sounds like an interesting 10-team accumulator right there.

Elsewhere the 10th seeded Wichita State Shockers play the 7th seeded Dayton Flyers and should win that one at 4/11 with Bet365 as the Shockers have looked very dominant in recent weeks. The Wisconsin Badgers are 4/9 with Bet Victor to beat Virginia Tech and should pull it off as you would expect seniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig to prove too strong for the inexperienced Virginia Tech. A tight looking game sees Vanderbilt face Northwestern, and the 10/11 on Northwestern +1 at Bet365 looks good. Another trendy upset pick is Rhode Island to beat Creighton. Rhode Island won the A-10 Championship with a 70-63 victory over the VCU and has a strong defensive record along with excellent three-pointer stats. Creighton lost four of their last six games and struggled offensively, so Rhode Island could shut them out for large periods, and Rhode Island +1 looks interesting at 20/21 with Ladbrokes.

Futures

Select committee chairman Mark Hollis has declared that this year’s March Madness bracket is the most competitive he has ever seen, and experts are divided over who will seize the crown. The NC Tar Heels have been made 15/2 favourite with Betway, followed by Kansas (17/2 with Bet365), Gonzaga (9/1 with William Hill), Villanova (9/1 with Betway), Duke (10/1 with Bet Victor), Kentucky (11/1 with Bet365) and Arizona (14/1 with William Hill). It is very close and congested, emphasising Hollis’ point. Villanova has been made the overall top seed and the defending champion looks a good bet at 9/1. But the team with real momentum is Kansas and they look a great option at 17/2. Pre-season favourite Duke has secured a comfortable draw and can go far, while Arizona is a great longer shot at 14/1. To make things really interesting, you could back Kansas, Villanova, Duke and Arizona and if any come in you would still be well in profit. If you had to go for just one, Kansas is the team to beat.

March Madness Betting Frenzy Looms for College Basketball Fans

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

March Madness is just one week away and bookmakers are preparing for the most hectic betting frenzy of the year. Sixty-eight college basketball games will take place over three weeks in a knockout tournament, and the winner will be crowned NCAA Champion 2017 on April 3. It always proves to be a thrilling ride for diehard fans and the wider sports loving public, full of buzzer beaters, teams snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and underdogs triumphing.

Last year witnessed the most exciting denouement in memory as Villanova blew a 70-64 lead to end up 74-74 with a mere 4.7 seconds remaining on the clock thanks to a three-pointer at the death from North Carolina. Overtime beckoned but Villanova settled it with an outrageous three-point buzzer shot that led to a court invasion from fans. This year’s NCAA Championships event is shaping up to be another classic, and here we run through the leading contenders and some interesting long-shots.

Top Seeds and Favourites

Four regional top seeds have been chosen by the Division 1 men’s basketball committee: Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga and Baylor. They are deemed to be the pinnacle of the 68 teams taking part in March Madness, and upon announcing it committee chair Mark Hollis named defending champion Villanova the overall top seed. The bookmakers disagree. They have made Kansas (15/2 with Sky Bet) the pre-tournament favourites. They are slightly ahead of last year’s beaten finalists the North Carolina Tar Heels (also 15/2 with Sky Bet, but a point or so higher than Kansas with many bookmakers) in the betting, followed by Gonzaga (10/1 with William Hill), UCLA (10/1 with Ladbrokes) and Villanova (10/1 with William Hill and Bet365).

It is all very congested as Duke and Kentucky are both 12/1 and Arizona, Louisville and Oregon are all in the mix. The betting has shifted considerably in the last few weeks. When the seedings were announced, Kansas was favourite, followed by Gonzaga and then Nova. Now North Carolina has muscled its way in, and Gonzaga and Nova have been pushed out in terms of price. A few weeks ago Gonzaga was unbeaten but has now finally lost, to BYU, and gone to 31-1 atop the West Coast division. That air of invincibility has now gone and the price has drifted out to 10-1. Nova and Kansas have an identical record of 28-3, leading the Big East and Big 12 divisions respectively. North Carolina, meanwhile, is 26-6 at the top of the ACC. Of all the teams, Nova looks an interesting option at 10/1. They were named overall top seed for good reason and have been great on the road, with a superb record against top opponents.

Long Shots

The bookmakers really do not like the look of Baylor, one of the four top seeds, and have made them huge outsiders. They are as low as 20/1 with some, but William Hill is offering a very generous 40/1, so you have an interesting, highly rated long shot right there. Head over to the Big Ten and you will find more interesting schools to bet on if you are looking for long odds. A few weeks ago Purdue was on a roll and could be backed at 75/1 for the UCAA Championships, which was a great price. That form has continued and they have stormed to the top of the Big Ten, with a record of 25-6, and the odds on them have dropped dramatically, but they still look a good bet at 33/1 with Paddy Power. An even longer shot would be the Maryland Terrapins, second behind Purdue in the Big Ten and on 24-7 for the season, with better recent form than Purdue. They can be backed at 100/1 with Bet365. That is amazing when you consider Sky Bet will only go to 40/1 on Maryland, but it serves to illustrate the chaotic nature of March Madness, as bookmakers struggle to agree on a consensus due to the sheer number of teams taking part, so there is plenty of value to be had.