The top 10 didn’t see massive movement with eight of the top 10 teams losing last week, but the wild late-season action did impact how oddsmakers view the NCAA Tournament favorites.
Gonzaga remained No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 pole despite losing to St. Mary’s, although the Bulldogs are no longer the unanimous choice after collecting 46 of 61 first-place votes. They’re also the +400 betting favorite at BetMGM, holding steady from last week after opening the season at +600.
Arizona also hung onto its No. 2 ranking after a 16-point loss at Colorado. Kentucky lost at Arkansas and sits at No. 7, but the Wildcats counterparts share the second-shortest odds at +800.
Arizona opened the season at +5000 and is BetMGM’s biggest liability with 8.8 percent of the total NCAA champion bets and 10.9 percent of the handle. Kentucky, which opened at +1600, is being backed by 8.4 and 9.5 percent, respectively, and is the book’s third biggest liability.
That puts John Calipari’s team just behind Auburn, which lost to Tennessee last week. The Tigers are +1000, same as last week. They opened the season at +5000 and have been backed by 7.8 percent of the bets and 8.8 percent of the money.
Also being offered at +1000 is eighth-ranked Purdue, which opened the season at +1600. The Boilermakers remained ahead of Baylor and Duke, who both garnered first-round votes after being the only two Top 10 teams not to suffer a loss last week.
Duke has moved from +1400 at the start of the season to +1200 while being backed by 7.3 percent of the bets and 7.2 percent of the money. Baylor jumped seven spots to No. 3 in the top 25 poll and now has +1800 odds after opening at +2000.
That still puts the Bears behind Kansas at +1400.
–Field Level Media
