Pittsburgh, Duke, Villanova, UCLA NCAA Tournament Odds
The odds are in for Pittsburgh, Duke, Villanova and UCLA to win in the NCAA Tournament and the Eastern Region.
First the Eastern Region where number one seeded Pittsburgh is listed with near even odds to win. Duke had +350 odds for a payout potential of $350 on every $100 bet at Sportsinteraction.com. UCLA and Villanova were listed with +600 and +600 odds, respectively.
"This is interesting being that UCLA is a number 6 seed and playing what many believe to be a capable VCU squad," said Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.
Number four-seeded Xavier was getting little respect from the oddsmakers, who had them paying $1400 for every $100 bet.
Looking at this region we get some idea of possible upsets in the eyes of oddsmakers.
Take Tennessee for example. They were given +1800 odds to win the East Region whereas Oklahoma State had odds of +2500. The Sooners were the higher seed at number 8, compared to Tennessee at number 9. Obviously the folks at Sportsinteraction.com believe the seeding should have been different.
As for Pittsburgh, Duke, Villanova and UCLA's odds to win the 2009 NCAA Tournament championship outright, the odds were good for the Pittsburgh Panthers, listed as the second biggest favorites after North Carolina: +500 pays $500 for every $100 bet.
Duke was the 6th most likely team to win the tournament with odds of +1600 for a payout of $1600 on every $100 bet.
Villanova would pay out $3300 while UCLA would pay $5000.
"The obvious stand outs here for those looking to create the perfect bracket would be UCLA potentially going deep into the tournament and number 9-seeded Tennessee beating 8-seeded Oklahoma," says Shapiro.
Mike McDourcy of the Sporting News sees UCLA advancing to the second round and playing Villanova, and they could move deeper beyond that point.
"The Bruins couldn't be more pleased their second-round opponent is a team that is not overwhelmingly big or physical. But it'll probably bug them to play the Wildcats in Philadelphia. UCLA has great speed in the backcourt, as does Villanova. UCLA's Alfred Aboya and Villanova's Dante Cunningham look as though they were made to face one another."
$12 billion is expected to be wagered on this year's NCAA Tournament.
Sportsinteraction.com was offering a free $100 to all new customers. Restrictions do apply.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
