The men's First Four play-in games begin today at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio: Howard at UMBC (6:40 p.m. EST) and NC State at Texas (9:15 p.m. EST). According to BetMGM, the NC State game's Over 157.5 is the highest bet total.
The Betting Lines for Tonight
DraftKings' moneyline is -110 even. The spread is O/U 142.5, Howard +1.5 (-130), and UMBC -1.5 (+110). NC State is -120, Texas is +100, and the spread is NC State -1.5 (+102), Texas +1.5 (-122), and O/U 158.5 in the latter ML game.
TheScore has Howard as a slight favorite at -115, while UMBC is at -105. The spread is O/U 141.5, Howard -1.5 (Even), and UMBC +1.5 (-120). The spreads for the subsequent game are O/U 158, Texas +1.5 (-115), and NC State -1.5 (-105).Fifth. ML is NC State -115 and Texas -105.
Additionally, Howard is at -115 while UMBC is at -104 on FanDuel. The spread is O/U 141.5, Howard -1.5 (-102), and UMBC +1.5 (-120). The spreads for the subsequent game are O/U 157, Texas +1.5 (-118), and NC State -1.5 (-104).Fifth. ML is NC State -114 and Texas -105.
According to theScore, 66.2% of bets and 69.5% of handles are on UMBC (+1.5) for the game against Howard tonight, 63.8% of bets and 51.8% of handles are on UMBC ML (-105), and 38.5% of bets and 72% of handles are on Under (142.5). In Texas vs. NC States, 51.8% of bets, or 60.6% of the handle, are on NC State (-1.5), 52.7% of bets, or 65% of the handle, are on NC State ML (-115), and 60.9% of bets, or 59.9% of the handle, are on Over (158.5).
Movement of Odds
The women's basketball team's First Four play begins tomorrow night at Cameroon Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, with Richmond (+142) playing Nebraska (-170) at 7 p.m. EST and Stephen F. Austin (+124) playing Missouri State (-148) at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, at 9 p.m. EST.
Since the March Madness Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball tournament brackets were made public on Sunday night, a representative from theScore Bet is reporting some noteworthy odds change on the men's side.
After starting the Selection Sunday program with the second-best odds, behind Michigan at +375, Duke is now the favorite (+320). After the Big Ten championship game on Sunday afternoon, Michigan was the +320 favorite and currently has the second-best odds at +375.
Duke is currently the favorite
After sitting at +2800 (9th best) on Sunday afternoon, Iowa State is now at +1800, sixth best odds. Illinois's odds dropped from +2500 to +2200, but they are still the seventh best. St. John's was at +5000 prior to the bracket reveal, but it is currently at +6000. Gonzaga dropped from +6600 on Sunday afternoon to +6000.
Since the bracket was made public on Sunday night, Arizona has received 16.8% of bets and 22.3% of handle at theScore Bet, followed by Michigan with 8.9% of bets and 10.9% of handle, Purdue with 6.9% of bets and 8.9% of handle, Iowa State with 5.5% of bets and 8.6% of handle, and Duke with 11.5% of bets and 7.9% of handle.
Interest in March Madness Betting in Canada
What is the difference between March Madness in the United States and Canada, just out of curiosity?
“I would often over the years compare percentages with colleagues that were at U.S.-facing books,” said Phill Gray, the former head of sports betting operations at Sports Interaction, and sports betting industry consultant. “In general I’d say it was about 25% in terms of handle relative to the size of the overall book. College football was about the same. Certainly still somewhat significant to us, but nowhere near the importance in the U.S.”
