LAS VEGAS, March 23 (UPI) — After its first weekend, more than two-thirds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s 68-team field have been eliminated. Monday, Las Vegas updated its title odds for the 16 teams remaining — and undefeated Kentucky is still the overwhelming favorite.
After defeating Hampton and Cincinnati, the Wildcats have improved to 36-0. And most Las Vegas sports books now list the team as even money favorites to win their last four games and capture the championship.
Kentucky began the tournament as 10-11 favorites. Heading into their Sweet 16 matchup with West Virginia, the Wildcats continue to be the heavy favorites.
If it can win the Final Four, Kentucky would become the first team in 40 years to complete an undefeated season — and the first college basketball team in history to reach the 40-win plateau.
However, there are 15 other teams that still have a say in the matter.
According to the Westgate SuperBook, Arizona has the next best odds at 5-to-1, followed by Duke (6-to-1) and Wisconsin (7-to-1). Gonzaga and Michigan State are tied for fifth at 12-to-1. Utah, Louisville and North Carolina are 25-to-1 mid-range shots to win it all.
Eighth-seeded North Carolina State, which defeated No. 1-seeded Villanova Saturday, is the second-lowest seeded team remaining at 60-to-1. UCLA, which some analysts argued shouldn’t have even been invited to the tournament, has the longest odds at 100-to-1.
Other sportsbooks vary slightly regarding the remaining teams’ odds, but most are similar.
One Las Vegas sportsbook may end up paying out more than $100,000 if Kentucky caps off an undefeated season, stemming from longer odds a prop bet offered beginning last summer that placed the Wildcats’ odds at going undefeated at 50-to-1.
Bovada Las Vegas had UCLA as a 300-to-1 longshot to win the NCAA crown heading into the tournament last week. North Carolina State was pegged at 200-to-1.
The Sweet 16 round will be played Thursday and Friday, with the Elite Eight round concluding on Saturday and Sunday. The Final Four will then play in Indianapolis the following Saturday, April 4, and the national championship on April 6.
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