Sharp bettors pounce on NCAA Tournament opening lines

Moments after the March Madness bracket was revealed Sunday, the South Point sportsbook posted lines on the first 32 NCAA Tournament games and took a flurry of wagers of up to $10,000 each at the counter.

The action, which South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said was “99.9” percent sharp, was fast and furious, and so were the subsequent line moves.

“They hit the board, and they were moving,” he said. “It’s always busy. It’s crazy every year.”

Andrews made the lines with longtime Las Vegas oddsmakers Vinny Magliulo and Tony Sinisi and South Point studio host Alex White.

Sharp bets caused lines to move by 2½ points or more on nine games. No. 3 seed Wisconsin was bet down from a 23-point favorite over No. 14 Montana to -16.

“Montana was the biggest mover, by far,” Andrews said. “We opened 23. They took 23, 22, 21, 20, 19 and 17½, so I’m at 16. A 7-point move.”

The sharps backed six other double-digit seeds who were double-digit underdogs:

— No. 14 Troy was bet down from a 15-point underdog to No. 3 Kentucky to +11.

— No. 14 Lipscomb moved from a 17-point underdog to No. 3 Iowa State to +13½ after some sharp buyback.

“I opened 17. They took 17, 16, 15 and 13½, and they laid 12½ and 13 so I’m back to 13½ there,” Andrews said. “A pretty big move.”

— No. 15 Omaha dropped from a 21-point underdog to No. 2 Saint John’s to +18 after some two-way sharp play.

“They took 21, 20 and 18½, but then they laid 17 and 17½, so I’m at 18,” he said. “They’re all over the place.”

— No. 13 Yale opened as a 10-point underdog to No. 4 Texas A&M and was bet down to +6½ before sharps backed the Aggies to move the line back to 7.

— No. 14 UNC Wilmington was bet down from an 18-point underdog to No. 3 Texas Tech to +15.

— No. 13 Akron moved from a 16-point underdog to No. 4 Arizona to +13½.

Sharps also backed underdog Saint Francis (Pa.) over Alabama State on Tuesday in a First Four game, causing the line to drop from 6 to 3½.

UConn is a 100-1 long shot to win its third straight national title, but sharp bettors are backing the No. 8 Huskies to cover their first-round game against No. 9 Oklahoma.

UConn opened as a 2-point favorite and was bet up to -5 before action on the Sooners moved the line back to 4½.

Books vs. brackets

Two higher seeds opened as favorites over lower seeds. No. 12 Colorado State, which won the Mountain West tournament, is a 2½-point favorite over No. 5 Memphis.

No. 9 Baylor opened as a 1-point favorite over No. 8 Mississippi State. But a sharp bettor at the Westgate SuperBook wagered on the Bulldogs, causing them to flip to 1-point favorites over the Bears.

No. 5 Michigan, which won the Big Ten tournament title Sunday over Wisconsin, is a 2½-point favorite over No. 12 UC San Diego, which won the Big West tourney to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth.

“I think UC San Diego has a good shot at beating Michigan,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “I know they won the Big Ten tournament, but Michigan was awful at the end of the year. Them and Memphis, I don’t buy those teams. Michigan was a ’dog in every game they played in the Big Ten tournament.”

National title odds

Auburn was chosen as the No. 1 overall seed for the 68-team tournament, but fellow No. 1 seeds Duke and Florida are the top two favorites to win the national championship.

Duke is the +325 favorite at the Westgate to win it all, followed by Florida at +350 and Auburn at +450. No. 1 seed Houston is the 7-1 fourth choice.

Florida, which won the SEC tournament title over Tennessee, supplanted Auburn as the second pick behind Duke.

“The one team that’s the hottest thing going right now is Florida,” Salmons said. “The world is in love with Florida. Everyone wants to bet Florida. Right now, they look great.”

Best bet

No. 8 Gonzaga is a 6½-point favorite over No. 9 Georgia, one of an NCAA Tournament-record 14 teams from the SEC. Texas-based handicapper Paul Stone recommends taking Georgia to cover the spread after it closed the regular season on a four-game winning streak that included an 88-83 win over Florida.

Georgia is led by 6-foot-11-inch freshman star Asa Newell.

“Georgia played its best basketball at the end of the season to sneak into the tournament field,” said Stone (@PaulStoneSports). “Newell is a potential lottery pick who has progressed nicely throughout the season.

“I believe the game-to-game grind of competing in the SEC will serve the Bulldogs well in the tournament.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.