March Madness continues into the last weekend in March with the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. The initial college basketball match-ups and betting lines are set along with updated odds to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Following Sunday’s Round of 32 games, all four No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
Opening rounds March Madness games saw record wagering by tens of millions of fans. A majority of them saw their brackets get busted Thursday when No. 14 seed Oakland, out of Rochester Michigan and the Horizon League, took down SEC No. 3 seed Kentucky 80-76 as a 13.5 point underdog in the biggest upset of the tournament. Also, No. 11 seed Duquesne went wire-to-wire to win 71-67 as a nearly 10 point underdog over No. 6 BYU.
More madness continued Friday with No. 13 Yale pulling the big upset 78-76 over No. 4 Auburn. Yale opened a 12.5 point underdog and closed +13.5 at some leading online sportsbooks. No. 12 Grand Canyon 75-66 over No. 5 St. Mary’s, No. 12 James Madison 72-61 over No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 9 Northwestern 77-65 in overtime over Florida Atlantic were the other noteable upsets by teams at least a +3.5 point underdog or more.
No. 11 seed NC State, who finished 10th in the ACC but won five games in five days to steal the automatic NCAA Tournament entry as conference tournament champions, also advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with wins over No. 5 Texas Tech as underdog and a overtime thriller over Oakland, 79-73.
Four ACC teams are in the Sweet Sixteen – North Carolina, Duke, Clemson and NC State. Three teams remain from the Big East in Connecticut, Marquette and Creighton, two in the Big 12 and Big Ten with Houston and Iowa State plus Purdue and Illinois, and two from the SEC with Tennessee and Alabama.
This year’s Sweet Sixteen matchup in the East region is between Connecticut and San Diego State, who met in last year’s national championship game.
The Oregon Ducks also won their way into the NCAA Tournament by winning the Pac 12 Tournament and then taking out South Carolina 87-73. In the Round of 32, No. 11 seed Oregon met the No. 3 Creighton Bluejays and delivered arguably the best game of the tournament thus far. Creighton prevailed in double overtime 86-73 and will face No. 2 Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen.
“As I told the team, epic game. Not sure I’ve been part of one quite like it in 35 years,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said postgame. “It was anybody’s game. Really proud of our guys. They’ve stuck with each other all year, and they don’t care who gets the credit. The guys share the basketball and play in an unselfish way. They’ve been absolutely a joy to coach.”
For bettors, Oregon’s loss was painful in the pocketbook. The Ducks (+5.5) never trailed by more than 5 points (1st half), and led 62-58 with possession of the ball and less than one minute left in regulation. After a missed shot by Oregon, a Creighton player was fould and made both free throws to cut the margin to 62-60 with 28 seconds left. An Oregon player was fouled immediately but missed the front end of the 1-and-1.
Creighton made the tying basket with 13 seconds left and Oregon couldn’t make the winning shot and the game went to a first overtime. By the end of the second overtime, the game was tied 71-71 and still under the game total points of 147.5. Creighton’s 86-73 win was a gut punch for Oregon spread and under the game total bettors.
Adjusted Odds to Win 2024 NCAA Tournament
College basketball odds and futures from FanDuel Sportsbook refresh periodically and are subject to change. That includes on props and live betting, which is most popular during March Madness. Additional odds added upon completion of Sunday’s games.
- +220: Connecticut
- +550: Houston
- +600: Purdue
- +800: Arizona
- +1200: Tennessee
- +1300: North Carolina
- +1500: Marquette
- +2000: Iowa State
- +2300: Duke
- +2500: Creighton, Gonzaga
- +3200: Illinois
- +3600: Alabama
- +7500 San Diego State
- +8500: Clemson
- +12000: NC State
The Four Regional cities hosting Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games March 28-31, and then the Final Four include:
- East – TD Garden (Boston)
- South – American Airlines Center (Dallas)
- Midwest – Little Ceasars Arena (Detroit)
- West – Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles)
- Final Four April 6 & 8 – State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
NCAA Tournament – Updated Bracket, Schedules and Scores
Sweet 16 Matchups, Odds, TV Schedule
College basketball betting lines, odds and over/under game totals by region courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. All times Eastern and to be updated.
Thursday, March 28
East
- No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 5 San Diego State | Total | 7 p.m. | TBS
- No. 2 Iowa State (-2.5) vs. No. 3 Illinois | Total 145.5 | 10 p.m. | CBS
West
- No. 1 North Carolina (-3.5) vs. No. 4 Alabama | Total 173.5 | 7:00 p.m. | TBS
- No. 2 Arizona (-6.5) vs. No. 5 Clemson | Total 151.5 | 9:20 p.m. | CBS
Friday, March 29
South
- No. 1 Houston (-3.5) vs. No. 4 Duke | Total 133.5 | 7:00 p.m. | TBS
- No. 2 Marquette (-7.5) vs. No. 11 NC State | Total: 150.5 | 9:30 p.m. | CBS
Midwest
- No. 1 Purdue (-4.5) vs No. 5 Gonzaga | Total: 153.5 | 7:00 p.m. | TBS
- No. 2 Tennessee (-2.5) vs. No. 3 Creighton | Total: 143.5 | 9:45 p.m. | CBS
More NCAA Tournament game analysis, predictions and picks with information you can bet on.
Saturday, March 30 (Elite 8)
- TBD vs. TBD live stream | 6 p.m. | TBS
- TBD vs TBD | 8:30 p.m. | TBS
Sunday, March 31 (Elite 8)
- TBD vs TBD | 2 p.m. | CBS
- TBD vs TBD | 5 p.m. | CBS
NCAA Tournament facts and betting figures from the opening rounds betting market March 21-24.
Saturday’s Round of 32 results produced the best day for most bettors and leading online sportsbooks took a hit when favorites went 8-0 straight up (SU) and 6-2 or 6-1-1 against the spread (ATS). Many sportsbooks had the most bets and money on North Carolina, Gonzaga and Arizona, who all won by double-digits and covered the point spread as favorites. So did Illinois and North Carolina in blowout wins by 15 or more points.
Then into Sunday, favorites went 5-3 SU/ATS with just one outright underdog winner (Clemson). The first two games were blowout winners by Duke and Purdue, and UCONN and San Diego State were also blowouts later Sunday with Alabama also winning by double digits. Marquette (-4.5) won but did not cover the point spread in a 81-77 win over Colorado. Clemson was the only outright underdog winner on Saturday and Sunday in the Tigers 72-64 win over Baylor. Houston (-8.5) was the last No. 1 seed to advance and nearly blew a 12-point lead with less than 2-minutes remaining in the game but held on to beat Texas A&M 86-83 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
So round of 32 favorites Saturday and Sunday went 15-1 SU 11-5 ATS with more bettors riding the favorites and cashing in.
The defending national champions Connecticut Huskies dominated both of their opening two contests and are now 8-0 SU/ATS in their last eight NCAA Tournament games the past two years. UCONN is trying to become the first back-to-back repeat national champions since Florida in 2007.
As noted previously in March Madness coverage, 20 of the last 21 National Champions have finished in the Top 20 in both offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency. Auburn fit the profile but was eliminated in the opening round leaving the following teams still alive:
- Connecticu (2, 11 off/def)
- Houston (15, 1)
- Arizona (9, 9)
- Purdue (3, 16)
- North Carolina (17, 6)
- Marquette (19, 20)
Close:
- Duke (8,22)
- Tennessee (30, 3)
- Creighton (11, 23)
Check back daily during NCAA Tournament game action as updated college basketball odds and betting lines are posted by sportsbooks and added to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight schedule.
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