NCAA Tournament: The 1 Seeds, Who and Where to Bet on the Tournament Winner
February 18 was the first time the top 16 seeds for the men's NCAA basketball tournament were made public. This was during the NCAA Tournament bracket preview.
Alabama was voted as the top overall seed, with Perdue, Houston and Kansas also earning the 1 seed.
The final seeding will be released on Selection Sunday on Mar 12, 2023.
The tournament will begin with the First Four Round on March 14–15 in Dayton, Ohio, and will continue to the much-anticipated March Madness First and Second Rounds, held from March 16–19. These rounds will be held all over the country in Birmingham, Des Moines, Orlando, Sacramento, Albany, Columbus, Denver and Greensboro.
The East, West, Midwest, and South regionals will be held in New York, Las Vegas, Kansas City, and Louisville, respectively. This will happen between March 23-26 .
The Final Four is set to take place in Houston, on April 1–3.
Our Seed Prediction
In the history of the NCAA Tournament, Houston has only had a No. 1 seed once, in 1983, while Alabama has never held that same honor. Purdue has been the top seed 3 times, the last time being in 1996. Since 1985, when there were 64 teams in the tournament, Kansas has had 15 No. 1 seeds. This includes 2022 when the championship title was won by the Jayhawks.
Out of the four No. 1 seeds that were revealed in February, three of them have consistently held the top seed in their conference since the start of the season.
Therefore, on March 12(Selection Sunday), we expect the seedings across the conferences to look like this:
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Kansas, Alabama, Purdue, Houston
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Arizona, Texas, Arizona, UCLA, Baylor
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Kansas State Tennessee, Iowa State, Virginia
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Xavier, Indiana, Gonzaga, Marquette
National Championship Prediction
As for who will win the tournament, we think Houston is rightly the betting favorite to take home the trophy at NRG. The tournament will be held in their hometown, so expectations are high. The current odds for the 2023 NCAA Championship winner reflect this as well.
DraftKings list Houston as favorites (+650) followed by Kansas (+800), Alabama ( +900) and Perdue ( +1000)
If you are considering making a futures bet on the winner of the tournament, now would be the time – the odds on Houston and the rest of the favorites are expected to drop as we get closer to the start of the tournament.
You could make this bet in any of the legal bookies across the country, but make sure to check each bookie’s welcome offers and the states in it is legal to operate. A great way to do so would be to read a review from a creditable source. For example, this DraftKings Sportsbook Review from usalegalbetting.com covers all the information you would need from bonuses and promo codes to legal states and deposit methods. We suggest reading comprehensive reviews on each online bookie you are considering signing up for.
Keep in mind that basketball futures and odds are updated often and can go up and down. This is especially true when it comes to prop bets and live betting, both of which are highly popular during March Madness.
We consider Houston to be the heavy favorite for claiming College Basketball's highest honor, yet seed changes, injuries, and other unexpected news may change all of that that. Kansas, Alabama, or Purdue can all realistically win the title as well.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
