Bookmaker insights, 25 best bets for Saturday's NCAA tourney games
Quotes from oddsmakers, updated betting splits and bets from respected handicappers
It was a remarkable two days of 32 glorious NCAA tournament games. We saw Purdue (-27) cover at the last moment against No. 16 Grambling State, several double-digit seeds score upset wins (No. 13 Oakland, No. 12 Grand Canyon, No. 13 Yale) and one bettor wager over $3 million on live wagers on Thursday’s games.
But we turn our attention to Saturday’s matchups, which include just one lower-seeded team (No. 5 Gonzaga -4.5 vs. No. 4 Kansas) favored over a higher-seeded team.
Below, I spoke with two oddsmakers to get their take on the action on Saturday’s games, and also aggregated a bunch of best bets from handicappers. I’ll update this file throughout the day, as more wagers come in.
Enjoy!
Saturday’s March Madness games
No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 2 Arizona (-8.5, 148)
DraftKings betting splits: 61% of bets, 56% of $$ on Arizona -8.5
“This is a lot of points, so the public is falling in love with Dayton. Opened -9, now -9.5. Arizona only getting 52% of tickets, 54% of moneyline. Very split action. We’d actually prefer if Arizona won, given the moneyline bets. No real sharp action on that one.” — Zachary Lucas, retail sportsbook director at TwinSpires
Best bets:
Dayton +9 — Tim Murray, VSiN
Dayton +9.5 — Jason Logan, Covers
Dayton +9.5 — Vaughn Dalzell, NBC Sports
Dayton + 10 — Thomas Casale, Thomas Casale, CBS SportsLine
Dayton-Arizona UNDER 150 — Matt Youmans, VSiN
Dayton-Arizona 1H UNDER 70.5 — Julian Edlow, DK Network
No. 5 Gonzaga (-3.5, 152.5) vs. No. 4 Kansas
DraftKings betting splits: 66% of bets, 77% of $$ on Gonzaga -3.5
“You rarely see Kansas as an underdog. We opened Gonzaga -4, went to -3.5, back to 4 and up to 4.5. Tickets are actually favoring Kansas, around 55%, but we’ve seen some respected money on Gonzaga at -4. So far, 65% of money on Gonzaga to cover. I can’t see that line going back down, unless public comes in on Kansas on Saturday.” — Zachary Lucas
Best bets:
Gonzaga -4 — Matt Youmans
Gonzaga -4 — Matthew Winick, ScoreBet
Gonzaga -4 — Julian Edlow
Kansas +4 — Sam Panayotovich, NESN/FoxSports
No. 7 Washington State vs. No. 2 Iowa State (-6.5, 129)
DraftKings betting splits: 82% of bets, 71% of $$ on Iowa State -6.5