Four NCAA Tournament Darkhorses To Bet On To Win It All
What’s so amazing about the NCAA tournament are the exciting moments and the exciting teams. Every year, there are multiple stories of an unknown player becoming a hero, devasting upsets, and jump out your seat moments. No matter how many hours of research you put into making your bracket, there’s always a team or two that make an amazing run. Here are some teams with +1800 or more odds to win it all that you should look to wager on. All odds according to PointsBet.
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Villanova +1800
The Big East champions should come in as a team to keep your eye on, as this was one of the more competitive conferences. They are a veteran squad, with five of the six players averaging 30 minutes or more being upperclassmen. Connor Gilespie gets the most attention, but they have players at all positions, including Justin Moore averaging 15 points per game and Brandon Slater who’s shooting 50% from the floor. Any one of these guys could be a star on any other team. Their one downfall is they don’t have the depth like some other teams, but that didn’t hinder them during the quick turnaround of the conference tournament.
UCLA +2000
The Bruins have the same team from that fantastic run in last year’s tournament, including Johnny Juzang, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Tyger Campbell. They bring that battle-tested experience which includes coming through in some pressure situations, as they made some exciting plays all the way to Final Four. They are one of the more well-balanced teams as they’re top 15 in adjusted offense and defense according to KenPom, and only three other teams in this tournament can claim that. They could run into a tough matchup against Kentucky, but you have to like how Myles Johnson and Cody Riley can matchup up against Oscar Tshiebwe — UCLA finished top 30 in offensive rebounds allowed (6.0 ORPG, which Tshiebwe lead the country in (5.24 ORPG)), but this will be the first time they would face a team ranked in the top 60.
Tennessee +2000
The team that usually wins the tournament is the one that is coming in the hottest, and that’s undoubtedly Tennessee. The Vols have won 12 of their last 13, including two wins against Kentucky, one against Auburn, and they won their first SEC tournament title since 1979. They come into the tournament well tested, as they won 11 games against quad one teams and didn’t lose to a team outside of it. Many believe they got shafted out of a two seed, especially because of Duke’s recent struggles, so they could use this bulletin board material to cut down the nets.
UConn + 8000
Thanks to some prolific guards like James Boatwright and Kemba Walker, the Huskies have made incredible runs to the championship in their history. They have two talented guards – R.J. Cole, who’s averaging 15.7 points and 85.5 free throw percentage, along with Tyrese Martin, who’s shooting 45.7% from the floor and 42.7 from three. The frontcourt is dominated by Adama Sanogo and Isaiah Whaley, who both averaged two blocks per game, and Sanogo was the Big East leader with nine rebounds per game. They could run into a couple of challenging games against Arkansas and Gonzaga, but they have seven quad one wins, including against Villanova, and were the last team to beat Auburn before their 17-game winning streak.
Bonus: Virginia Tech to make the Final Four +2200
A team seeded No. 7 or lower has made the men’s Final Four in seven of the last eight years, and if any continues this year, Hokies are the best candidate. They’re riding high after a dominating must-win over Duke in the ACC Championship. As previously mentioned, it isn’t always the best team that wins, it’s sometimes the hottest. VT is the third-best three-point shooting team in the country (39.2%), and they’ve shot over 42% from deep in three of their four wins in the ACC tournament. If they can continue that, it will be tough to stop them. They get a first-round matchup against Texas, who’s lost four of six, then a chance to play Purdue, who’s ranked 169th against the three. They could use that moment to make that darling run to the Final Four.
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