NCAAB Update: Buckle Up for March Madness
Houston Remains at No. 1 in AP Poll
The conference tournament action will be dominating the NCAAB news cycle this week with the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Pac-12, and SEC tournaments getting underway.
While there are teams playing to get into the March Madness bracket, others will be looking to solidify top seeds in the NCAA Tournament and help their NCAA basketball odds.
When looking at our college basketball betting lines for Monday, Saint Mary’s is the 11½-point favorite against Santa Clara while Gonzaga is favored by nine points versus San Francisco in the WCC semifinals.
James Madison leads all Division I men’s teams with a 30-3 record while UConn, Purdue, Houston, Princeton and McNeese State are other three-loss teams. Minnesota leads the way with a 24-7 record against Las Vegas NCAAB odds.
UConn (+500), Houston (+600), and Purdue (+700) lead the way in our odds of winning March Madness. Tennessee (+1100), Arizona (+1200) and North Carolina (+2000) are other top contenders when looking at the odds to win the NCAA Tournament. Houston and Purdue remain first and second in the NCAA NET rankings while UConn, Arizona and Tennessee round out the top five.
UNC, Duke Lead ACC Contenders
It is hard to believe that the last time Duke and North Carolina were the last two teams standing in the ACC tournament was in 2011.
Duke has done its part by reaching the ACC title game in four of the last six ACC tournaments. The Blue Devils topped Virginia in the 2023 title game and that could be a semifinal matchup.
North Carolina is the top seed and Duke is seeded second so the rivals can’t meet before the ACC championship game.
North Carolina and Duke are running nearly neck-and-neck in the ACC title odds with the Tar Heels at +150 and the Blue Devils at +160.
Purdue is the One in the Big Ten
Purdue won the Big Ten regular-season title by three games over Illinois while Nebraska and Northwestern defied the Las Vegas odds by finishing third and fourth in the Big Ten during the regular season.
Bubble teams have plenty of work to do in this tournament beginning on Thursday when the second round gets underway. Minnesota-Michigan State and Ohio State-Iowa are the only matchups set so far for Thursday’s action while Wisconsin and Indiana await the results of Wednesday’s action.
Purdue has even odds of winning the Big Ten title according to the college basketball betting lines. Illinois is next at +285.
Houston Looks to Seal the Deal
It has been a memorable debut season in the Big 12 for Houston. The Cougars are currently first in the national polls after winning the Big 12 regular-season title by two games over Iowa State.
Kansas tied BYU for fifth in the Big 12 during the regular season. Despite seven wins over ranked teams, the Jayhawks have been a bit of an enigma this season. The Jayhawks are fourth at +1200 odds behind Houston (-135), Iowa State (+350), and Baylor (+650) in the Big 12 odds.
Can Texas and Oklahoma make some noise in their final Big 12 tournaments before they are headed to the SEC?
UConn Eyes Conference Title
UConn got the most important of the titles during the 2022-23 season by winning the national title while Marquette was the Big East tournament champion.
UConn is the team to beat in this year’s tournament followed by Marquette and Creighton. Marquette-Creighton could be one memorable semifinal matchup with Seton Hall or St. John’s the most likely semifinal foes for UConn.
Villanova will look to shake things up and prove that there are more than just five teams to keep an eye on this week.
UConn is priced at -140 to win the Big East tournament followed by Creighton (+400), Marquette (+500) and St. John’s (+900).
Bid Adieu to the Pac-12
Arizona held off Washington State to win the final Pac-12 regular-season title before most of the conference teams head to new leagues beginning in the 2024-25 season.
Arizona is still looking to secure a No. 1 seed in the March Madness bracket so there is some work to do.
Colorado and Oregon could help themselves with deep runs in the Pac-12 tournament.
Arizona is the heavy favorite at -175 to win the final Pac-12 tournament per the BetUS sportsbook.
Crowded at the Top in SEC
Five teams finished within a game of first place in the SEC during the regular season with Tennessee winning the title outright.
It could make for a bumpy ride in the SEC tournament with Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina eyeing the title.
Texas A&M was fourth in the SEC with six road wins during the regular season so keep an eye on the Aggies.
Tennessee (+150) leads Auburn (+250), Kentucky (+350) and Alabama (+450) in the odds of winning the SEC tournament.
A Look at the Polls
The top three teams remained the same in the latest Associated Press poll. No. 1 Houston received 52 first-place votes. No. 2 UConn was listed first on six ballots with No. 3 Purdue receiving the other four first-place votes.
POLL ALERT: North Carolina jumps three spots to No. 4, Kentucky up six spots to No. 9 in AP Top 25; Houston, UConn, Purdue remain 1-2-3. https://t.co/WrYQyxgzlp pic.twitter.com/8OEbE8TmQ1
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) March 11, 2024
North Carolina moved from seventh to fourth with Kentucky jumping up six spots to No. 9.
Washington State was the big faller, going from 18th to 22nd.
Player of the Week
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
On a team loaded with impact freshmen, it was senior Antonio Reeves who had 20 points in a win over Vanderbilt and 27 more as Kentucky topped SEC regular-season champion Tennessee.
Reeves has seven straight 20-point games as Kentucky heads into the SEC tournament on a five-game winning streak.
Team of the Week
North Carolina Tar Heels
There are plenty of options this season. We are going with North Carolina after the Tar Heels went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and came away with the five-point win to sweep both games against rival Duke during the regular season.
Cormac Ryan had six 3-pointers and 31 points in that win and if he is shooting like that, this is a tough team to contend with when it comes to the March Madness odds.
Nationally Televised Matchups Featuring Top-10 Teams
- No. 2 UConn in Big East quarterfinals, Thursday, noon ET (FS1)
- No. 6 Arizona in Pac-12 quarterfinals, Thursday, 3 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
- No. 8 Creighton in Big East quarterfinals, Thursday, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
- No. 10 Marquette in Big East quarterfinals, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
- No. 3 Purdue in Big Ten quarterfinals, Friday, noon ET (Big Ten Network)
- No. 5 Tennessee in SEC quarterfinals, Friday, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- No. 9 Kentucky in SEC quarterfinals, Friday, 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Questions Of The Day
How many ranked NCAA basketball teams are in action on Monday?
No. 21 Saint Mary’s is favored by 11½ points against Santa Clara and No. 17 Gonzaga is a nine-point favorite against San Francisco in the WCC semifinals.
Which college basketball team has the best record in the nation against the spread?
Minnesota is 24-7 against the spread this season while UNLV is 5-0 and Georgia Tech is 4-0 against Las Vegas NCAAB odds when facing ranked opponents.
