Teams Affected by College Basketball ‘Bribe’ Probe – Odds Review

As many as 10 college basketball assistant coaches and others have been implicated in a far-reaching probe over bribery and recruitment.  Some teams odds of winning an NCAA College Basketball Championship could see a jolt as a result of these allegations. 

In a complaint released on the Department of Justice’s website, Louisville and Miami may suffer the most serious repercussions.

Sports Illustrated broke it down for us:

The investigation revealed “numerous instances" of bribes made by financial advisors and persons connected to apparel companies to assistant coaches, college players, high school players and various family members. The bribes had simple purposes: convince, either directly or indirectly, future college basketball stars to sign with a particular college or convince future NBA players to hire a bribing financial advisor at the start of those players' NBA careers.

Sanctions could ultimately be placed on Miami, Louisville and other schools implicated.

Louisville had 35/1 odds of winning a national championship in 2018, Miami was coming in at much longer 75/1 odds.

The allegations are so dire that there are questions as to whether Louisville’s prized men’s College Basketball program could ultimately be doomed.

The NCAA has not used the "death penalty" — removal of a repeat-violator program's right to compete for at least a year— to punish a Division I athletics program since February 1987 against Southern Methodist football and the same could hold true with Louisville.

“We are urging sports bettors not to place early wagers on those teams implicated in this scandal due to the stress placed upon staff and students,” Don Shapiro of the Gambling911.com website commented on Thursday.  “Obviously Miami and Louisville sit atop that list but other teams such as Arizona must be monitored closely.”

Assistant Wildcats coach Emanuel Richardson was among those charged this week.

Arizona’s odds of winning the NCAA College Basketball Championship remained unchanged at 10/1, however, Michigan State had climbed over the Wildcats as the second favorite to win after Duke at 8/1 odds.

- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com