NCAAB Weekly: UConn Tops March Madness Odds
Top Three Teams Still the Same in Associated Press Poll
UConn and Purdue remained the top two teams in the Associated Press poll. With nine of the top 15 teams suffering at least one loss this week, the rest of the poll had plenty of movement.
When looking at the college basketball betting lines, Kansas is an underdog on the road against Texas Tech while Duke is favored to post its 21st straight home win against Wake Forest in Monday’s action involving top-10 teams.

Grand Canyon, Purdue and UConn are all 22-2 this season while Detroit Mercy and Mississippi Valley State are the only winless teams. Minnesota (20-3) has the best mark against the NCAA basketball spread after covering in its last five games and 14 of the last 16.
Defending national champions UConn (+650) and Purdue (+700) lead the way in the odds of winning the national title. When looking at the odds of winning March Madness, Houston (+900), Tennessee (+1200), Arizona (+1400), and North Carolina (+1400) are other top contenders. Houston and Purdue remain first and second in the NCAA NET rankings while Arizona, UConn, and Alabama round out the top five.
Here’s a look at some March Madness Odds to consider!
Taking a Tumble?
It was not a great week for many of the top teams around the nation with four top-10 teams losing.
It started with No. 4 Kansas falling in overtime to Kansas State as the Wildcats snapped a four-game losing streak in the 300th meeting between the schools. Tylor Perry had eight points in overtime to give Kansas State a huge win.
Clemson tore through the North Carolina defense for 43 first-half points and held on for the 80-76 win at No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels had won 17 straight home games against Clemson but have now dropped two of the last three.
No. 8 Arizona avoided a similar fate with a triple-overtime win at Utah on Thursday and then Illinois, ranked 10th, lost 88-80 at Michigan State in a key Saturday clash in the Big Ten. No. 6 Tennessee was no match for host Texas A&M in a 16-point loss. It could have been even worse had Kansas not escaped with a three-point win over Baylor and North Carolina barely held off Miami to avoid back-to-back losses.
Virginia is now just a game in back of North Carolina in the ACC race. There are six teams within two games of the Big 12 lead with Houston setting the pace at 8-3. Arizona has a one-game lead on Washington State in the Pac-12 with Alabama and South Carolina tied for the SEC lead.
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What Might Have Been
While his brother Dan has UConn sitting on top of the men’s college basketball world, Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley came through with the biggest upset of the week as the Sun Devils were listed by the college basketball spread as 12½-point underdogs on the road against Utah, only to come away with the 85-77 win.
The other double-digit underdogs to win outright were Green Bay (+11½) with an 84-83 victory at Youngstown State, UNLV (+11½) with an 80-77 upset against New Mexico while Western Kentucky topped Louisiana Tech 81-76 while listed by our sportsbook as a 10-point underdog.
There was some late-game drama for some other games as well.
When Iowa’s Owen Freeman hit a free throw with 7 seconds left to play, Iowa was looking good to cover as a 7½-point favorite. However, a Mike Mitchell 3-pointer with three seconds remaining allowed Minnesota to cover in the 90-85 loss.
It was either time to cringe or celebrate when Tramon Mark missed a foul shot with less than a second to play. Had he made the free throw, Arkansas would have covered as a four-point favorite against visiting Georgia.
More than a few of those who bet online were checking in on the last seconds of the Purdue-Indiana game. Indiana’s CJ Gunn was off the mark on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left that would have given Indiana the back-door cover as 17½-point underdogs. Instead, Purdue covered in the 79-59 win.
Wichita State had a chance to take the lead against a ranked Florida Atlantic team on Sunday when Xavier Bell stepped to the line for two free throws. He missed the first one but made the second to tie the game with 15 seconds to play. Once the game headed into overtime, FAU pulled away for the 95-82 win to cover as 7½-point favorites.
A Look at the Polls
After No. 1 UConn and No. 2 Purdue, there is quite a bit of movement in the Associated Press poll. Houston went from fifth to third while No. 4 Marquette and No. 5 Arizona jumped up three spots.
POLL ALERT: UConn, Purdue remain 1-2 in AP Top 25 as major shuffle sees Kansas, North Carolina drop, Iowa State crash top 10; Indiana State ranked for the first time since the days of Larry Bird.
Full poll: https://t.co/ZJG5mgWrsa pic.twitter.com/UYthsmMKmi
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 12, 2024
North Carolina’s loss to Clemson led to the Tar Heels going from third to seventh.
Wisconsin took the biggest fall, tumbling from 11th to 20th. Iowa State and South Carolina each moved up four spots with the Cyclones now 10th and the Gamecocks coming in at No. 11.
Game of the Week
No. 4 Marquette at No. 1 UConn
- Saturday, Feb. 17, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Barring a huge upset in the matchup with DePaul, UConn will enter the game on a 13-game winning streak as the Huskies face the team the closest to them in the Big East standings.
The home team has won four of the last five regular-season games in the series with three of those contests being decided by single digits.
Rhode Island native Tyler Kolek leads Marquette into this matchup as he will likely be playing in New England for the final time as a college player.
After finishing with 27 points in his previous three games, sophomore Alex Karaban had 25 points in his last outing for UConn.
UConn is 13-0 at home this season while Marquette is 5-3 on the road.
Player of the Week
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Tyler Kolek, Marquette
Kolek is averaging 25.3 points and 10 assists since being held to four points against Seton Hall.
In Marquette’s two games last week, he shot better than 50% from the field and was 8-for-15 on 3-pointers. He averaged 22 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 10.5 assists per game in wins over Georgetown and St. John’s to push Marquette’s winning streak to seven games.
Team of the Week
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Texas A&M Aggies
There were plenty of unranked teams that came away with wins against ranked foes, but it might be harder to find a more impressive showing than what the Aggies delivered against Tennessee.
Texas A&M never trailed and held Tennessee under 40% shooting in the 85-69 victory. The offense was led by Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor as they combined for 52 points and 12 assists.
That duo also had 40 combined points early in the week in a win over Missouri.
College basketball lines are heating up. Bet on March Madness and see if you can be the champion!
Nationally Televised Top-10 Matchups
- Wake Forest at No. 9 Duke, Monday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- No. 6 Kansas at Texas Tech, Monday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- No. 4 Marquette at Butler, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
- No. 10 Iowa State at Cincinnati, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- No. 7 North Carolina at Syracuse, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- No. 1 UConn at DePaul, Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
- No. 8 Tennessee at Arkansas, Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- Minnesota at No. 2 Purdue. Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
- Texas at No. 3 Houston, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
- Virginia Tech at No. 7 North Carolina, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
- No. 9 Duke at Florida State, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- No. 4 Marquette at No. 1 UConn, Saturday, 3 p.m. ET (FOX)
- No. 6 Kansas at Oklahoma, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Vanderbilt at No. 8 Tennessee, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- No. 2 Purdue at Ohio State, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Questions Of The Day
How many ranked teams are in action on Monday?
No. 9 Duke welcomes Wake Forest to Cameron Indoor Stadium with the Blue Devils favored by seven points. No. 6 Kansas is a 3½-point underdog against Texas Tech. That line could change if Jayhawks top scorer Kevin McCullar is cleared to play. There are reports that he will miss the game,
Which team has the best record in the nation against the spread?
Minnesota is 20-3 against the spread this season while Marquette is 4-0-1 against the Las Vegas college basketball odds when facing ranked opponents.