Gonzaga continues to be the favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, but it’s Arizona that has sportsbooks the most nervous.
Gonzaga remained the unanimous No. 1 team in the country this week with the Bulldogs (23-2) garnering all 61 first-place votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Their odds have shortened from +600 to +400 since the start of the season at BetMGM.
The Bulldogs are also the +400 favorites at DraftKings, where they lead with 15 percent of the NCAA Tournament winner bets and 23 percent of the money bet on the national champion.
However, it’s Arizona that is the biggest liability at BetMGM, where the Wildcats opened at +5000 and are now down to +800.
Arizona (24-2) moved up to No. 2 this week and tops BetMGM with 8.7 percent of the total national champion bets. The Wildcats have also been backed by 11.3 percent of the money at the sportsbook, just behind the Bulldogs’ 11.5 percent.
Arizona hasn’t yet been as popular at DraftKings, where the Wildcats are being backed by 5 and 4 percent, respectively.
Far more action has been placed on sixth-ranked Kentucky (22-5), which has been backed by 7 percent of the bets and 8 percent of the handle. John Calipari’s crew is also the third-biggest liability for BetMGM, where Kentucky opened at +1600 but has seen those odds cut in half with 8.3 percent of the total bets.
Auburn (24-3) dropped to No. 3 this week but remains the second-biggest liability at BetMGM. The Tigers opened at +5000 and are now +1000 while being backed by 9.9 percent of the total money wagered at the book.
Purdue (24-4) remains fourth in the country but has slid down the action report at BetMGM. Once the most popular bet at the book, the Boilermakers are now being backed by 7.8 percent of the bets and 8.9 percent of the money at +1600.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe has taken over as the favorite to win the Wooden Award as the nation’s top player.
After opening the season at +4000 at BetMGM, the junior is now +150. He has passed Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, who spent much of the season as the betting favorite before slipping to +500 this week.
They are followed by Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn at +600 and Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji and Keegan Murray at +800.
Tshiebwe is an even stronger favorite at DraftKings at +150 ahead of Cockburn (+550), Davis (+600), Murray (+850) and Agbaji (+900).
As Tshiebwe starts to put a vise-grip on the Wooden Award, he has now been backed by 16.0 percent of the bets and 33.0 percent of the money at BetMGM. That makes him the book’s biggest liability ahead of Purdue’s Jaden Ivey and Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin.
–Field Level Media
