Tag: NCAA Men’s tournament

March Madness: 3 men’s first-round upsets oddsmakers expect

These spreads disagree with the selection committee’s seeding

While there are tons of complaints from fan bases across the country over how the NCAA selection committee seeded the 68 teams in the men’s basketball tournament, it appears oddsmakers don’t have too many gripes with how the matchups turned out.

As early betting gets underway for the first round of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, only three lower-seeded teams are considered favorites on the moneyline and against the spread — and even then the difference is pretty marginal.

That is, of course, unless you’re trying to fill out a perfect bracket this year or pick the right team to wager on. Then these lines become pretty significant.

Two of the teams expected to pull off upsets are No. 9 seeds facing a No. 8. The other is a No. 10 seed that should give a fits to a No. 7 seed.

Here’s a look at the opening lines via BetMGM.

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4 teams with the hardest path to 2023 Men’s Final Four (including Duke)

Which top teams have their work cut out for them this March?

The bracket is set, the ball will soon tip and the madness is just about here.

But when the dust settles, which of the 68 teams will make it to the 2023 men’s Final Four in Houston? Kansas, Houston, Purdue and Alabama remain the favorites after Selection Sunday, though they’ll each have their own tests ahead of them.

Still, the top-seeded teams tend to have easier paths to the first weekend in April than anyone else.

So who has the toughest road to the Final Four?

Let’s break it down by region using KenPom projections to see which of the elite teams in each has their work cut out for them.

THE BRACKETS ARE BACK! The USA TODAY Sports Bracket Challenge is back! $1 MILLION grand prize for a perfect bracket, $25,000 prize for top bracket. Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!

How the Razorbacks can reach the Final Four

Everyone can finally breathe, the Arkansas Razorbacks have made it into the NCAA Men’s Tournament. 

Everyone can finally breathe; Arkansas Razorbacks have been selected to participate in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tournament. 

Their Final Four journey is not easy with the treacherous eighth seed. However, history shows that seeds with the eighth seed can make noise in the tournament, but you need a unique team.

It would be best to have a team with big-game talent, a charismatic head coach, and sporadic nature.

That team sounds very familiar.

The Razorbacks landed in the west region, with Kansas holding the top seed, which is unfortunate. Before they get a chance to shock the world against the Jayhawks, they have to take on Illinois, who are another challenging team.

2023 Men’s March Madness: Final Four and National Championship odds for all 68 teams

Updating the live Final Four and championship odds all month long

March Madness is in full swing and Selection Sunday is upon us.

As the 68 teams get set for their matchups in the big dance, the usual questions remain. Who is this year’s Cinderella? Which players will etch their names in tournament history? And, of course, which teams will meet in the Final Four before cutting down the nets.

Ahead of the bracket reveal the favorites to win the title contained some familiar names.

Houston (+550) held the best odds, followed by Alabama (+800), Kansas (+800) and Purdue (+1100). Oddly enough, UCLA (+225) held better odds to reach the Final Four than Purdue (+240) despite the Boilermakers considered more likely to win the tournament.

Here’s a look at the full list of 68 teams and their odds via DraftKings Sportsbook. Check back here for live, updated odds throughout the tournament. Odds for the women’s bracket are available here.

THE BRACKETS ARE BACK! The USA TODAY Sports Bracket Challenge is back! $1 MILLION grand prize for a perfect bracket, $25,000 prize for top bracket. Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!

Sister Jean is back at March Madness rooting for Loyola again and everyone was so excited to see her

Sister Jean is back and our hearts are warm.

There are very few people out there who can legitimately claim to be super fans of whatever it is they root for.

Sister Jean is absolutely one of those people. The 102-year-old chaplain captured the hearts of college basketball fans everywhere four years ago when she showed up in the crowd rooting for Loyola during their March Madness run.

Four years later, she’s still here. And not only is she rooting for the Ramblers in their tournament debut, but she also led the pregame huddle for them as well.

Sister Jean said a prayer for her guys before the game started and wished them luck.

What a moment. Sister really had a scouting report ready in her prayer with those boys.

“Good, gracious God. We need your help today. But I know we can beat those Buckeyes. I noticed as they practiced out there, they make a lot of attempts at 3’s. Somebody has to be under the basket each time so we can rush down, do a break and get the ball into the basket.” 

Listen. Are we sure it’s Sister Jean and not coach Jean? Because it sounds to me like she’s giving the Ramblers a little bit of game.

That’s some pretty amazing stuff. And it’s great that at 102 years old, Jean still comes to the games to cheer her favorite squad on. That’s real fandom right there. We can all appreciate that.

College basketball fans absolutely loved this.

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