D Las Vegas owner Derek Stevens made a $20,000 wager at 50/1 on the Spartans to win the NCAA Tournament. That means Golden Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller is routing for Duke on Saturday.
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William Hill books would suffer six-figure losses if Kentucky (38-0) wins the national championship, due to a prop posted last summer. The Wildcats opened at 50-1 odds to go undefeated, and they entered the tournament as even-money favorites.
If your bracket picks still have a good chance of winning the office pool, you need to plan on paying taxes on your jackpot.
With the cover on the line, Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky calmly sank two free throws. Obviously, the 7-footer had no clue what the second shot meant, but he put the money ball in the bank, the Badgers walked off with a 79-72 victory over North Carolina and underdog players were left with a worthless ticket and a ridiculous bad-beat story.
It’s all about matchups at this point, and Kentucky has the edge mostly because of its size. Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson are 7-footers, Karl-Anthony Towns is 6-11 and Trey Lyles is 6-10. Wildcats coach John Calipari, like him or loathe him, has done a great job of putting it all together.
The Review-Journal’s Adam Hill, Kelly Stewart and Matt Youmans compete with handicappers Bruce Marshall and Ken Thomson in a contest covering NCAA Tournament games last week, today and Friday. Each contestant selects a total of 22 games against the spread, sides or totals.
Everyone is entertained by the Cinderella stories. This was not one of them. Jahlil Okafor is too big and skilled, and the 6-foot-11-inch freshman slaughtered San Diego State in a game that played out as expected.
The Review-Journal’s Adam Hill, Kelly Stewart and Matt Youmans compete with handicappers Bruce Marshall and Ken Thomson in a contest covering NCAA Tournament games.
Underdogs covered the first six games Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. Three Big 12 Conference teams were knocked out by midafternoon, including Iowa State as a 14½-point favorite. This opening day of the tournament seemed to top them all.
Kentucky is 34-0 — with a few close calls along the way — and the clear favorite to win the national championship when the NCAA Tournament begins in earnest Thursday. Here are some underdog plays for Thursday and Friday.