Not only did all of the top four seeds advance to the round of 32 in the men’s tournament for the second year in a row, but they did so in spectacular fashion: The first round’s average margin of victory was 17.4 points, the highest since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, according to ESPN Research. All betting favorites won their games outright Friday, only the second time that has happened on a single opening-round day in tournament history.
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This is all to say that the national championship favorites stayed the favorites, but there was some minor infighting near the top of the odds board. Arizona (+350) and Michigan (+370) maintained favorite status after surpassing Duke, which fell from top favorite status on Thursday and lengthened further from +425 to +450 since Friday. Florida’s remarkable blowout win in the round of 64 moved the Gators up from +800 to +750.
Purdue, one of the betting public’s main future preferences, continues to climb the board, moving from 25-1 to 22-1 to be the seventh favorite. To make room, Iowa State lengthened from 18-1 to 25-1 since Friday, tying the Cyclones with another sportsbook liability, UConn (25-1). Other notable movers include Arkansas (50-1 to 40-1) and St. John’s, which shortened the most of any team since Friday from 70-1 to 40-1.
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Odds by DraftKings Sportsbook, subject to change.
