March Madness: a basketball betting bonanza

March 18, 2008 / By Nick Bailey

Online Sportsbooks have released betting lines for the NCAA Tournament as March Madness officially gets underway this week.

Sportsbetting.com has odds for all 32 first-round games, as well as 1st Half Lines, Half Time Lines, In-Running wagering, Bracket Props, and Tournament Props.

The North Carolina Tar Heels (East Regional bracket), Memphis Tigers (South), Kansas Jayhawks (Midwest) and UCLA Bruins (West) received the No. 1 seeds on Sunday after each won its conference championship.

The top seeds are all favored by huge point spreads in first-round action.

At Sportsbetting.com, Pac-10 champion UCLA (31-3) has the biggest point spread over an opponent in the first round, as the Bruins are a 32½-point favorite over Mississippi Valley State on Thursday.  The over/under total is 121½.

Also on Thursday, the Big 12 conference champion Jayhawks (31-3) are a whopping 23-point favorite over Portland State, while the over/under total at 146.
 
The Memphis Tigers (33-1), winners of the Conference USA, open play Friday as a 24½-point favorite over Texas Arlington, with the total at 142½.
 
The Atlantic Coast Conference champion Tar Heels play the winner of the Coppin State-Mount St. Mary's game Tuesday night. The Tar Heels (32-2), ranked No. 1 in the nation, should be a huge favorite over which team wins.

The Big East Conference placed eight teams in the tournament, tying the record it already held, while the Pac-10, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 sent six apiece. The ACC has four teams in the tournament, and the West Coast Conference and Atlantic 10 each have three. No other conference placed more than two teams in the field.

The East Regional games will be played at the Charlotte Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina; West Regional games at the US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona; Midwest Regional games at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan; and South Regional at Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas.

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