Jayhawks 9-2 favorites in Vegas to win NCAA Tournament
— -- The Kansas Jayhawks are the favorites to win the NCAA tournament, according to updated odds released Sunday night by the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas.
The Jayhawks, the top seeds in the South region, are 9-2, followed by Michigan State and North Carolina at 5-1. Virginia and Villanova are next at 12-1, and the Kentucky Wildcats and Oregon Ducks are both 15-1. Oklahoma is 20-1, followed by Xavier, West Virginia and defending-champion Duke, who are each listed at 25-1. Eight teams -- Holy Cross, Southern, Fairleigh Dickinson, Florida Gulf Coast, Hampton, Austin Peay, Weber State and UNC-Asheville -- are the biggest long shots at 9,999-1.
Michigan State was the favorite before the NCAA tournament bracket was released Sunday night. The Spartans beat Purdue on Sunday to win the Big Ten Tournament but were slotted as a second seed in the Midwest. Oregon was granted a No. 1 seed in the West region ahead of Michigan State, despite having 30-1 odds to begin the weekend. The Ducks defeated Utah to win the Pac-12 Tournament.
The controversy over the tournament field and seeds was predictable. It has been a year of parity, with no team able to completely separate itself as a clear-cut favorite. A different team topped the odds to win the national championship to begin December (Kentucky 5-1), January (Kansas 7-1), February (North Carolina 6-1) and March (Michigan State 5-1).
As of Saturday at the SuperBook, more bets had been placed on Michigan State to win the national championship than any other team. But the largest amount of money had been wagered on Kansas to win it all. The Spartans had attracted the second-most money at the SuperBook.
William Hill's Nevada sportsbook has North Carolina as the favorite at 4-1. On Sunday, William Hill took a $55,000 bet on the Tar Heels to win it all at 5-1. The bet would pay $330,000. William Hill also took $50,000 bets on Kansas at 11-2 and Michigan State at 11-2. Both bets would pay $375,000.
Point spreads for the opening-round games were also released Sunday night. Every No. 9 seed opened as a favorite over its 8-seed first-round opponent at Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology, and No. 10-seed Virginia Commonwealth opened as 3.5-point favorite over No. 7-seed Oregon State. CG Technology vice president of race and sports Jason Simbal said the first four-figure wagers his book took on the opening-round games were on Kansas, Seton Hall, Butler and Temple.
The Venetian sportsbook will be open 24 hours during the first four full days of the tournament. The sportsbook at the Mirage will open at 5:30 a.m. PT. The Wynn, Caesars and Westgate will open at 7 a.m. Thursday.
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