It was about a week ago that I looked at the betting odds for NCAA basketball futures ahead of the start of the March Madness 2024 tournament. The top-eight favorites last week were as follows (all odds bet365):
- Connecticut Huskies, +450
- Houston Cougars, +600
- Purdue Boilermakers, +650
- Arizona Wildcats, +1400
- North Carolina Tar Heels, +1600
- Tennessee Volunteers, +1600
Auburn Tigers, +2000- Iowa State Cyclones, +2000
Updated March Madness 20244 Odds: UCONN still leads market
With play set to resume on Thursday, the Connecticut Huskies remain the favorites. It has not been a season for major upsets in the NCAA tournament as seven of the eight teams listed above have made it to the Sweet 16. The odd team out is the Auburn Tigers. Their season came to a crashing halt at the hands of Yale in the tournament's first round.
Heading into the Sweet 16, these are now the top eight favorites:
- Connecticut Huskies, +210
- Houston Cougars, +500
- Purdue Boilermakers, +600
- Arizona Wildcats, +850
- North Carolina, +1200
- Tennessee Volunteers, +1200
- Marquette Golden Eagles, +1600
- Iowa State Cyclones, +1800
The slashed odds on UCONN are pretty significant. It appears to be a reaction to the huge spreads that they put up. Often a team that starts as the favorite will not see a major slashing of odds after the first two rounds unless some of the other favorites go out. However, only Auburn, who was a mere 7th favorite, went out early. All of the major pre-tournament favorites remain alive.
Upcoming NCAA games: Thursday and Friday's Matchups
The Thursday games are Clemson vs Arizona, San Diego State vs UCONN, Alabama vs UNC, and Illinois vs Iowa State. The Friday games will be NCSU vs Marquette, Gonzaga vs Purdue, Duke vs Houston, and Creighton vs Tennessee.
MOP odds: 2024 March Madness
In another market, the betting favorite to win Most Outstanding Player is Donovan Clingan. He is the top-performing player on the betting favorite, the UCONN Huskies. A player on a team that did not win the championship-winning MOP has not happened since 1983. Bettors looking at the MOP market must also be betting that the player's team will win the championship accordingly. Otherwise, you are betting against a 40-year trend, which you shouldn't do, in my opinion.
Bettors considering second-favorite Zach Edey at +700 are basically betting Purdue to win the tournament and then Edey to be named MOP. In my view, these bettors should just go with Purdue to win the tournament at +650 instead of Edey for MOP at +700, if you think about it.
There isn't much difference in the odds. You need Purdue to win for Edey to win, based on a 40-year precedent. Also, if Purdue wins you can't automatically assume Edey will get the MOP. A sprained ankle and another player carrying the team is the reason why.
We'll take a look at the odds ahead of the Final Four as well.
