What you've posted is, generally speaking, the way that the wagers are going. Remember that championship wagering is somewhat skewed by the fact that most bettors wager on individual games rather than an overall champion, a bet that is more like buying a lottery ticket than anything else. That said, I've heard that the so-called "smart money" is on both North Carolina and Duke. Other interesting wagers are on Gonzaga, UCLA and Arizona, which may have more to do with their fan base(s) proximity to the state of Nevada rather than any actual insight into relative team performance or actual chances against the other top tier teams.
Note the following:
The teams from the western states were disrespected by the Vegas odds-makers, and now, apparently by the bettors. This "opinion" will not be missed by these teams, and will likely be media fodder in their respective locker rooms.
Kentucky (not good enough, young and inexperienced), Villanova (very difficult to win back-to-back championships), Kansas (bad habit of "playing down" to the level of their opponents, and a general inability to close out tight games which results in games being closer in final score than they should be), Louisville (a wealth of talent, but not as much as some other top tier teams) and Oregon (injury to top star diminishes their offensive and defensive play) are considered to be on the outside-looking-in regarding their respective shots at the championship game.
In the west, Gonzaga is considered to be "soft", which is a reflection of their weak regular season schedule. Yes, they did beat Arizona earlier in the season, but the chances of that happening again are viewed as slim.
Betting:
Were I to wager real money on the championship, I'd go with Duke, North Carolina & Arizona as the potential actual champion and I'd wager say $1000 on each of those teams. Looking at the odds, I'd also wager say $100 on UCLA and Gonzaga at 80-1 (just to cover my backside should the unexpected happen). I'd pass on the other teams, though any of them is quite capable of proving me wrong.
EK!!! |
