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The Butler Bulldogs continue to impress with another upset over Wisconsin on Thursday night. They inch ever so slowly towards the Final Four with odds of winning the 2011 NCAA Championship now at 15/1 at BetUS.com.
The Bulldogs opened the Tournament with mind-boggling 200/1 odds that would have paid out $20,000 for every $100 bet. Coming into Thursday night’s game, Butler had odds of 25/1.
With their 61-54 win over the Badgers, Butler joins the Elite Eight this weekend.
A lot of people just ignored us and said, 'Aw, they'll probably lose in the first or second round,'" Butler center Andrew Smith said after the Bulldogs won their 12th straight game since Feb. 5. "Here we are again, trying to prove everybody wrong. We'll try to win three more."
"I don't know necessarily that I'm shocked by [the upsets] because I know what this team is capable of," forward Matt Howard said. "But [I'm] very happy that we were able to execute again tonight and get the job done."
The Bulldogs have now won 12 straight games overall. They have improved to 16-3 during the month of March under head coach Brad Stevens.
Another upset of note Thursday was number 5-seeded Arizona’s shocking 93-77 dismantling of number 1-seeded Duke.
Arizona outscored Duke 55-33 in the second half to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005. Arizona's 93 points were the most allowed by Duke in the NCAA tournament since Providence beat the Blue Devils 98-87 in 1997.
"The way they played in the second half, they should win it all," Duke’s Nolan Smith said of Arizona. "(Derrick) Williams is a monster. They hit us full force, and kept hitting. They did everything right, and we did a ton of things wrong."
Elsewhere, Connecticut beat San Diego State and Florida beat BYU. Unlike many of the previous closely won Tournament games, all of Thursday night’s Sweet 16 victories were by 7 points or greater.
All of your NCAA Championship odds were available at BetUS.com here and listed below.
Basketball Futures
NCAA : NCAA Championship 10~11
Fri, Mar 25, 2011 EST
|
Rot |
To Win |
Moneyline |
|
101 |
Ohio State |
+225 |
|
102 |
Kansas |
+225 |
|
104 |
Connecticut |
+700 |
|
105 |
Florida |
+900 |
|
107 |
Kentucky |
+1200 |
|
108 |
North Carolina |
+1200 |
|
111 |
Arizona |
+1200 |
|
112 |
Butler |
+1500 |
|
113 |
Florida State |
+2500 |
|
114 |
Richmond |
+7500 |
|
115 |
Marquette |
+6000 |
|
116 |
VA Commonwealth |
+6000 |
Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
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