Undefeated Kentucky enters Post-season as March Madness Betting Favorite

Contributed by Michael Smith

After wrapping up their regular season schedule with a perfect 31-0 SU record, 18-0 in SEC conference play, the Kentucky Wildcats enter the post-season as strong 1/1 favorites in March Madness futures betting at sportsbooks available through bettingsports.com.

Following an early February stretch of five straight ATS losses, the Wildcats have regained their dominant form. Kentucky is 6-1 ATS in their last seven games, claiming victory in each by an average margin of over 22 points, and looks to be a top pick as sports betting fans fill in their March Madness bracket.

The Wisconsin Badgers are Kentucky’s closest competition on the college basketball futures betting lines, with odds of 13/2.

The Badgers won 13 of their last 14 to claim the Big Ten regular season title with a conference record of 16-2, but have struggled to satisfy bettors with a mediocre 7-11-1 ATS record in their last 19. However, Wisconsin has dominated in their last two, including a 72-48 thrashing of the Ohio State Buckeyes, easily covering as slim 2.5-point favorites.

The Duke Blue Devils round out the top three, with 8/1 odds in March Madness betting at sportsbooks available through bettingsports.com.

The Dukies looked to be in post-season form in their regular season finale, manhandling the North Carolina Tar Heels 84-77 while pegged as 1.5-point underdogs. The win extended Duke’s SU win streak to 11, 7-4 ATS.

Trailing the Favorites

A pair of regular season conference champions trails the favorites, with odds of 14/1 on the March Madness betting lines.

The Virginia Cavaliers posted a 16-2 record to emerge as ACC regular season champs, but enter the post-season trailing the conference rival Blue Devils in college basketball online betting.

The Arizona Wildcats meanwhile, dominated the Pac-12 conference, with a record of 16-2, and are undefeated SU in their last eight outings, 7-1 ATS.

The Villanova Wildcats, who outclassed all rivals with 12 straight SU wins, 11-1 ATS, to run away with the Big East conference regular season title, sit at 18/1, followed by the West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga Bulldogs, pegged at 22/1.

The Big 12 champion Kansas Jayhawks take a 24-7 overall record into the post-season, and are a 33/1 bet to claim their first national championship since 2012. The Jayhawks are joined by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who proved to be the surprise story in the ACC this year, posting a 26-5 overall record after opening the season at a distant 100/1 in March Madness online betting.

The Utah Utes, who finished three games back of Arizona in the Pac-12 standings, trail at 35/1, while the North Carolina Tar Heels have fallen to 40/1 after wrapping up their regular season with just four SU wins in their last 10 games, 5-5 ATS, including a discouraging 84-77 loss to Duke in their regular season finale, failing to cover as 1.5-point home betting underdogs.