Since 2004, there have been three NCAA Tournament Championship Games in which one team received greater than 60% of spread bets. In all three instances, the public favorite did not cover the spread.
Two of the nation’s most historic programs will face off in tonight’s national championship game as the Kansas Jayhawks (32-6, 16-2 Big 12) take on the Kentucky Wildcats (37-2, 16-0 SEC). Both teams are loaded with talent, however, with potentially six first round picks on their roster Kentucky seems to be the superior team. Perhaps that explains why the ‘Cats opened as 6.5-point favorites at the market-setting Cris sportsbook.
The matchup most sports fans have been anticipating features All-American forwards Anthony Davis and Thomas Robinson. Although it remains unclear whether these two will actually guard each other, both players are likely top five picks in the upcoming NBA draft and each won their conference’s Player of the Year Award.
The Louisville Cardinals, currently listed at +1020 to win the National Championship (at Pinnacle), are the clear underdog of the Final Four. However, they have the best ATS record at 8-0 in postseason tournament play (including Big East tournament).
They are following in the footsteps of last year’s champion and fellow Big East team Connecticut Huskies, who went on an incredible 10-1 ATS streak to win the title. Connecticut, then a #3 seed, and Louisville now a #4 seed, will both have faced Kentucky in the Final Four.
The Huskies beat Kentucky 56-55 last year as a 2-point underdog, but Louisville will have a tougher test as Kentucky is favored by 8.5 points. Despite the impressive ATS record Louisville has achieved this postseason, the public is still relatively split for Saturday’s game vs. Kentucky, as was the case last season between Connecticut and Kentucky.
Although both games yesterday were decided by double digits, the final scores did not necessarily tell the whole story. Kentucky jumped all over Baylor early, taking a 42-22 lead into halftime before cruising to an 82-70 victory. In the later game, Kansas held a one-point lead over North Carolina with under four minutes remaining but a late surge gave the Jayhawks an 80-67 win over the top-seeded Tar Heels.
Thursday’s games are in the books and now the waiting begins for Saturday’s slate of elite eight games. While Florida, Louisville and Ohio State all won comfortably with double digit victories, top-seeded Syracuse struggled to knock off 4th seeded Wisconsin. The Badgers shot 14 of 27 from beyond the arc but were unable to attempt a quality shot on their final possession.
With a trip to the Final Four on the line, we will take a look at the line movement for this week’s NCAAB games in this opening line report.
| TEAM | BETTING % | OPEN | CURRENT | NOTES |
Subscribe in a reader
