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After finishing one game short of a perfect 2020-21 season, Gonzaga is favored to win it all this year.
The Bulldogs have the best odds to win the 2021-22 NCAA men's basketball title at +650 ($100 bet could win $650), according to DraftKings.
Here are the top teams heading into Tuesday's start of the regular season:
Gonzaga: +650
Michigan: +1200
UCLA: +1200
Villanova: +1400
Memphis: +1500
Texas: +1500
Duke: +1500
Purdue: +1600
Kansas: +1600
Kentucky: +1600
Alabama: +2000
Illinois: +2000
Ohio State: +2200
Baylor: +2200
Gonzaga finished last season with a 31-1 record, with the only loss coming in the national championship game. Baylor earned an 86-70 win to claim its first men's basketball championship in school history.
While Baylor lost key players Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell to the NBA and MaCio Teague to graduation, Gonzaga remains strong thanks to the return of consensus preseason All-American Drew Timme.
Timme led the Bulldogs with 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last year and should once again be one of the top big men in the country. The team also added Matthew Hurt, the No. 1 recruit in the 2021 class, per 247Sports, to create a frontcourt that could be impossible to defend.
UCLA is looking to build off its run to the Final Four while returning top scorers Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez. Michigan will be led by Hunter Dickinson, who helped the Wolverines earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament last year before losing in the Elite Eight.
In both cases, the postseason experience could lead to more success in 2021-22.
Duke is coming off one of its worst seasons in recent memory, finishing 13-11 while missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994-95. The Blue Devils still have high expectations in the final season for longtime head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who brings in the No. 5 recruiting class.
Memphis is also a team to watch as freshmen Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren try to turn around a program that hasn't reached the NCAA tournament since 2014.
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The University of Colorado announced Tuesday it has made PointsBet its official betting partner, becoming the first NCAA school to sign an agreement with a sportsbook.
The two sides agreed to a five-year deal, which covers sports betting, fantasy sports, casino games and free-to-play contests.
"We're thrilled to have PointsBet as a partner and for the benefits this sponsorship will provide for our student-athletes for years to come," CU Athletic Director Rick George said. "We are impressed with their commitment to raising awareness around responsible gaming. And we're particularly excited whenever we can partner with sponsors who call Colorado home."
The partnership will provide financial support for Colorado's new Scripps Leadership and Career Development Program which "helps prepare student-athletes for success beyond their playing days."
"This isn't a deal just to get PR, this is a long-term view for both parties, and both parties had to get very comfortable with one another," CEO of PointsBet's U.S. business Johnny Aitken said, per Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico. "It is centered around education and those career pathways, and being in-state, the trust factor is heightened because we're just miles away, not a plane flight away."
The deal comes after the state of Colorado legalized sports betting in May. The Denver Broncos have also taken advantage with three sponsorship deals with sportsbooks before any other NFL team even had one, per Ryan O'Halloran of the Denver Post.
PointsBet, which is building its North American headquarters in Denver, will have advertising at the Colorado Buffaloes' football stadium and basketball arena, sponsor promotions during games and be featured on radio broadcasts of games.
We've officially found the world's biggest Texas Tech fan.
A bettor who placed a $1,500 futures bet on Texas Tech to win the national championship at 200-1 odds is now two wins away from cashing in a $300,000 prize, per Ben Fawkes of ESPN. The SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas has confirmed the validity of the ticket.
"Auburn is our only liability, and a small one at that," SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said.
The bettor has placed the ticket on PropSwap for $65,000. ProSwap is a secondary market where bettors can sell off futures tickets in exchange for a hedge price that is below their potential winnings.
Texas Tech is currently a 2.5-point underdog in its Final Four matchup with Michigan State, per Vegas Insider. SuperBook said the Red Raiders would be a two-point favorite over Auburn and a three-point underdog to Virginia.
Texas Tech reached its first Final Four in program history with a win over Gonzaga. The Raiders' defense has been swarming throughout the tournament and is the most efficient in college basketball by over two points, per Ken Pomeroy.
They'll be going up against a Michigan State program playing in its eighth Final Four under Tom Izzo, though the Spartans won only one national championship in their previous seven trips.
Duke came within a rotation of a basketball of being upset by UCF.
However, that has not tamed the oddsmakers' faith that the Blue Devils will eventually be cutting down nets.
Duke remains the betting favorite to win the 2019 national championship heading into the Sweet 16 at +300 and is followed by Gonzaga at +400. Zion Williamson and Co. entered the Dance as +225 favorites, so it's clear the books have still been a little shaken by Duke's near-loss Sunday.
B.J. Taylor's driving bank shot missed, and Aubrey Dawkins' tip-in attempt circled the cylinder before falling out to give Duke a 77-76 win over UCF in the second-round matchup. The Devils struggled to contain 7'6" center Tacko Fall in the middle before he fouled out in the final minute, and Dawkins had 32 points for UCF.
"When he tipped it, you talk about microseconds, when that ball rolled around the rim, it looked like it was going in, but as Coach K talks a lot about the basketball gods, they had our back tonight," Williamson said, per David M. Hale of ESPN.
Gonzaga and North Carolina looked the best of the No. 1 seeds in their first two games, each winning in blowout fashion. Virginia trailed at halftime to 16-seed Gardner-Webb and struggled to score in its second-round matchup against Oklahoma but will play the tournament's lowest-remaining seed, No. 12 Oregon, in the Sweet 16.
LSU, which struggled to wins over Yale and Maryland, has the highest-remaining odds at +7500.
B/R Betting has posted a list of odds for the eight second-round Division I NCAA men's basketball tournament games taking place Saturday. You can review those odds below as well as some quick picks and thoughts on a handful of games.
Odds List
Florida State (-6) vs. Murray State
LSU (-2.5) vs. Maryland
Michigan State (-10) vs. Minnesota
Auburn (-1.5) vs. Kansas
Purdue (-4) vs. Villanova
Gonzaga (-13) vs. Baylor
Michigan (-7) vs. Florida
Kentucky (-5.5) vs. Wofford
Quick Picks and Thoughts
If you're looking to make some wagers, consider No. 12 Murray State (+6) over No. 4 Florida State.
Racers guard Ja Morant dominated No. 5 Marquette Thursday thanks to a 17-point, 16-assist, 11-rebound triple-double in an 83-64 win.
Morant, who seems destined to be a top-three NBA draft pick this summer, is clearly a cut above the vast majority of his competition. He could lead the Racers to an outright win over the Seminoles, and getting six points is an enticing proposition.
Maryland could be a good bet, too. The Terrapins struggled to put away the No. 11 Belmont Bruins in the first round, but that was with leading scorer Anthony Cowan Jr. shooting just 3-of-18 from the field. Chances are he won't go that cold again.
On the flip side, LSU struggled to put away No. 14 Yale, who lost by only five despite shooting just 8-of-37 from the field. The Terps could be a good bet at +2.5.
The favorite to watch is the Auburn Tigers, who people may be down on after their near-collapse against No. 12 New Mexico State. But they were the SEC champions for a reason and took down No. 2 seed Tennessee by 20 in the title game last Sunday. Furthermore, the hot-shooting Tigers can dominate from deep against the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks, who are just 141st in Division I in three-point defense.
The Saturday slate kicks off with LSU and Maryland at 12:10 p.m. ET.
Don't sleep on the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Kentucky men's basketball team now has the third-best odds to win the national championship this season, continuing its rise up the list of favorites:
Duke (+170, bet $100 to win $170) remains firmly at the top, according to Bovada, followed by the team Kentucky beat over the weekend, Tennessee (+750). After that comes Kentucky (+800), Virginia (+800), Gonzaga (+850) and Michigan (+850).
The Wildcats have won 11 of their last 12 games, including a victory over the formally top-ranked Volunteers on Saturday. The only loss in that streak was highly controversial, with Kentucky fans arguing that Kavell Bigby-Williams' buzzer-beating tip-in was in fact basket interference.
Basket interference isn't reviewable, however, and the bucket stood.
Rather than sulk over Tuesday's loss, however, Kentucky responded with a convincing 86-69 win over Tennessee, led by PJ Washington's 23 points.
"It shows everybody that we can still play with great teams in this league and also in the country," Washington said after the victory, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com).
"I hit them right after the game with LSU and said, 'Hey, that was a tough loss,'" Kentucky coach John Calipari added. "But you know, we needed it. We need to go back to what we were, and sometimes you've got to get knocked in the head to know that. So the loss to LSU probably helped us win this game."
Nonetheless, it still feels like teams around college basketball are playing for the privilege to lose against Duke in the national championship game. The Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 again this week, are 23-2 on the season and feature a star-studded roster highlighted by Zion Williamson (one of the most exciting college basketball players in years) and two potential top-five picks in this year's NBA draft (RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish).
Duke is fallible. They've lost to Gonzaga and Syracuse this season, and part of college basketball's allure is its unpredictability. But Duke is undeniably the most talented team in the nation, and if they play up to that potential, nobody will beat them.
Not even the red-hot Wildcats.
Two months into the men's college basketball season, Duke remains the odds-on favorite to win the 2019 national championship.
The Blue Devils began the year 3-1 to win a championship and are now even better at +180 ($100 bet wins $180), per OddsShark. Michigan is given the second-best chance to win it all at 9-1, followed by Gonzaga at 10-1.
Odds to Win 2019 CBB National Championship (as of Jan. 2)
Duke: +180
Michigan: +900
Gonzaga: +1000
Kansas: +1100
Virginia: +1100
Tennessee: +1200
Nevada: +1600
Kentucky: +2000
North Carolina: +2300
Auburn: +2500
Michigan State: +2800
Villanova: +4500
Texas Tech: +5000
Florida State: +5500
West Virginia: +6500
Duke being on top is no surprise considering how the squad continues to impress on the court.
The Blue Devils entered the year with high hopes due to a loaded recruiting class, and players like Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett have certainly lived up to expectations. The squad has impressive wins over Auburn, Texas Tech and Kentucky, while the only loss came by two to Gonzaga.
If the team keeps improving and playing to its potential, it should remain the favorite to cut down the nets in April.
However, it won't necessarily be easy with several top teams capable of going on a deep run.
There are still four undefeated teams, including legitimate contenders in Michigan, Virginia and Nevada. Houston is also 13-0 on the season, although the team is still considered a longshot to win it all at 125-1. This could create some serious value if anyone believes the Cougars can keep this going.
Gonzaga, Tennessee and Kansas also represent good value despite having a few missteps so far this season.
On the other hand, there are a few teams that could be getting by on name recognition rather than production. Kentucky has had an up-and-down year but has the eighth-best odds to win.
Villanova has the 12th highest odds, but the defending champs are just 9-4 so far this season and outside the Top 25.
Still, this could be the best chance to buy low before the young team rounds into form in 2019.
