March Madness betting guide: Upsets shuffle favorites’ odds

LAS VEGAS(AP) — March Madnessisn’t just about filling out — and latertrashing — brackets. There are more ways to bet the field in theNCAA Tournament, an event that will consume basketball fans overthe next three weeks. Here’s a look at the favorites, underdogs andlong shots.

WHO’S FAVORED TO REACH THE FINAL FOUR?

Earlierthis week, top-seeded Houston was the plus-135 favorite to emergeas the Midwest Region representative and play in Houston, accordingtoFanDuel Sportsbook.That means a $100 bet pays $135. The next top team in the region isNo. 5 Texas at plus-350.

Alabama,the No. 1 overall seed, was plus-150 to come out ofthe South.

The mostcompetitive region appears to be the West. Top seed Kansas openedas a slight favorite but later shared that spot with No. 7 UCLA atplus-330. No. 9 Gonzaga wasn’t far behind at plus-400.

Top seedPurdue was at plus-300 to come out of the East, but theBoilermakers lost in the first round.

WHO’S FAVORED TO WIN THE TITLE?

After abatch of first-round upsets, the favorites listed byFanDuelSportsbookgot shuffled a bit heading into the secondround of the tournament.

Alabama wasthe top favorite at plus-500, essentially swapping places withHouston (+700) whose star Marcus Sasser is nursing an injury. UCLAwas next (+1000), Gonzaga and Texas were both +1200 and Kansas was+1300.

WHO IS THE BIGGEST UNDERDOG?

If you’relooking for the next Saint Peter’s or Loyola-Chicago, check outthese options.

Nineteenteams were listed at plus-50,000: Arizona State, Charleston,Colgate, Furman, Grand Canyon, Howard, Iona, Kennesaw State, KentState, Louisiana-Lafayette, Montana State, Nevada, NorthernKentucky, Oral Roberts, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TexasSouthern, UC Santa Barbara, UNC Asheville and Vermont. Furman didadvance to the second round with a big win over 4th-seededVirginia.WHAT’S THE BIGGEST SPREAD DIFFERENCE?

Alabama wasa 23 1/2-point favorite over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Kansaswas favored by 22 1/2-over Howard in their first-round matchup —the same spreadFairleigh Dickinson faced againstPurdue before its shocking 63-58 win.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST OVER/UNDER?

The oldsaying is that life is too short to bet the under, but it’s oftenthe wise play. Some of these totals may give bettors secondthoughts before taking the over, but that doesn’t mean it’s thewrong move.

The highesttotals heading into the tourney were Gonzaga-Grand Canyon,Missouri-Utah State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi-SoutheastMissouri State at 155 1/2 each, Xavier-Kennesaw State at 153 1/2,Auburn-Iowa at 151 1/2 and Florida Atlantic-Memphis andColgate-Texas at 150 1/2 each.

NOT REAL UNDERDOGS

Justbecause the committee seeds one team over another doesn’tnecessarily mean it’s the better team in the minds of theoddsmakers. Games where the lower seed was the favorite on theearly line: Tenth-seeded Utah State by 1 1/2 points overseventh-seeded Missouri (Missouri won), ninth-seeded West Virginiaby 2 1/2 over eighth-seeded Maryland (Maryland won) andninth-seeded Auburn by 1 1/2 over eighth-seeded Iowa (Auburn won83-75).

PROPS

CircaSports in Las Vegas likes the chances of the 5-12 opening-roundupset trend continuing, posting the odds of a No. 12 seed winningat minus-510. Odds also are in the favor of a No. 13 beating afour-seed at minus-250.

A victoryby a No. 14 (plus-110), No. 15 (plus-195) and No. 16 (plus-745)aren’t as likely but that’s March Madness: A 15 and a 16 won in thefirst round, after all.

The Big 12had the highest total for number of tournament wins by a conferenceat 11.

BRACKETS

The chase for the perfect bracket inoffice pools and everywhere else ended before the secondroundthis year. Wins by the likes of 15-seed Princeton,13-seed Furman and 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson’s near-historic winover No. 1 seed Purdue left the number of perfect brackets at 0late Friday in the major contests run by ESPN, CBS Sports, the NCAAand others.