If we were gonna answer this question it had to be today, since the play-in games to complete the final field of 64 begin tonight at 6:40 p.m. EST. Of course, odds vary at different books and you should shop around if you can for the best numbers on the teams you want to bet, but the following from Pinnacle Sports is representative.
As of the time of this writing on Monday night, the favorite to win is defending champion Louisville at +520 (bet $100 to win $520). Interestingly, Louisville is only a 4th seed in its region. The second favorite is overall 1st seed Florida at +617 and third is, amazingly, another 4th seed in Michigan St. at +637. Other teams of interest include Arizona at +668; Kansas +1178; Duke +1229; Virginia +1254; Wichita St. +1446, Wisconsin and Creighton, both +2458; UCLA +3582; and San Diego St. +4606.
A total of 19 teams are all listed at the longest odds of +102287, or about 1,023-1. They include American, Wofford, Mercer, Albany, and Texas Southern.
Favorites to win their regions are Arizona +152, Louisville +153, Florida +155, and Virginia +320.
William Hill sports books have put up lines on which conference will produce the winner. The Big 10 is the favorite at 7-2, followed by the SEC at 19-5, and the ACC at 4-1.
While not as elaborate as the Super Bowl, there will be many March Madness betting opportunities in the books right up to the first game on Thursday.
