Betting action heavy on favorites Tar Heels, Tigers

Apr 2, 2008 / By Nick Bailey

College Basketball Betting fans are backing the two favorites, the North Carolina Tar Heels and Memphis Tigers, heading into the 2008 NCAA Tournament Final Four on Saturday.

With the four No. 1 seeds – North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA – all making it through to the Final Four for the first time since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1979, bettors see no reason to stop betting the favorites, said Bodog sportsbook manager Richard Gardner.

“With history being made with all No. 1 seeds in the Final Four, we are seeing both favorites get the early action in Memphis and North Carolina,” Gardner said told TotalOdds.com.

“This should continue based on Memphis’ dominating performance over Michigan State and Texas in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, while UCLA has had a few close calls thus far in the tournament.”

“On the other side, UNC is playing the best basketball they have played all year and bettors are reacting to what they are seeing on the court.”

UNC is favored by 3 points over the Kansas Jayhawks, while Memphis is a 2-point favorite against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday. The winners meet Monday for the 2008 NCAA Tournament Championship.

Gardner said the house has done well during the 2008 NCAA Tournament as many bettors went for underdogs early in March Madness but lost their shirts as the favorites rarely disappointed.

And when there have been upsets, bettors have tended to have their money on favorites.  

“The biggest win for us was the Davidson win over Wisconsin (in the Sweet Sixteen) as over 70 per cent of the action came in on Wisconsin. The biggest loss was on the Texas win over Stanford, as over 76 per cent of the action came in on Texas.”

He said the only game in the Elite Eight that Bodog took a bath on was UNC’s win over Louisville. Otherwise, the sportsbook did well as bettors lost picking Texas to cover against Memphis, Kansas to cover against Davidson, and Xavier to cover against UCLA.

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