Oregon State overcomes astronomical odds to reach Elite Eight
For all the success 12 seeds have had in the NCAA Tournament, none has ever reached the Final Four.
Oregon State could become the first Monday with a win over No. 2 seed Houston.
The Beavers, 7½-point underdogs to the Cougars and +270 on the money line, already have overcome astronomical odds to make it this far.
Oregon State had to win three games in three days at the Pac-12 conference tournament at T-Mobile Arena just to get a bid.
It trailed UCLA by 16 points in the first half of their Pac-12 opener before storming back to beat the Bruins in overtime, then upset Oregon and Colorado en route to the title.
The Beavers stunned fifth seed Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and knocked off sixth seed Oklahoma State in the second round. On Saturday, they eliminated Loyola Chicago.
In all, Oregon State has won six straight elimination games and was an underdog of 5 to 8½ points in each of them.
“If you had made a $100 money line bet and kept rolling it over, that number would be astounding right now,” Westgate vice president of risk Ed Salmons said.
A quarter million dollars, to be precise. If a bettor had placed a $100 money line wager on Oregon State starting with the UCLA game and kept rolling it over, the bankroll would be a little more than $250,000.
A BetMGM bettor bought a half-point and made a $306,000 wager to win $255,000 on Houston -7. But the betting public is backing the Beavers.
“They seemed to have caught the public eye,” MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said. “They’re the feel-good story at this point.”
Oregon State opened at 2,000-1 to win the NCAA title at William Hill, where a bettor in Nevada placed a $400 wager to win $300,000 on the Beavers at 750-1.
Pac-12 attack
The Pac-12 has dominated in the tournament, going 12-2 straight up and ATS, with Southern California dealing league foe Oregon one of the losses in Sunday’s 82-68 win.
UCLA, an 11 seed that rallied to beat Michigan State in overtime in the play-in game, is the third Pac-12 team in the Elite Eight after outlasting No. 2 Alabama 88-78 in overtime Sunday.
“I did not see this coming at all,” Salmons said of the Pac-12’s success. “Most people didn’t think much of the Pac-12. There really wasn’t a dominant team.
“Sometimes you just never know. That’s the great thing about college basketball. You get these things. College football, you get dominant teams and you never see stuff like this.”
Books win big
The Bruins’ upset of the Crimson Tide as 7-point underdogs was the second-biggest win of the tournament for BetMGM, which took a $451,000 straight bet on Alabama.
In fact, BetMGM bettors placed five six-figure wagers on the Sweet 16 and lost them all: $367,200 on Oregon +3, $306,000 on Loyola Chicago -6, $222,200 on Florida State +3 and $112,200 on Creighton +13½.
“The UCLA game was really big for us. It was one of those games where the public and the professionals were both on Alabama,” Stoneback said. “It’s been a very strong tournament. Counting the play-in games, the book has actually won all eight days of the tournament.”
By the numbers
Favorites went 5-3 ATS in the Sweet 16 and are 12-4 ATS in the past three days after underdogs went 24-15 ATS in the first three days.
Favorites went 3-1 ATS on Sunday, as No. 1 seed Gonzaga (-13, 83-65 over Creighton), No. 1 Michigan (-1½, 76-58) and USC covered.
Unders are 32-23 after going 6-2 in the Sweet 16. The first six games went under, and UCLA-Alabama was going to go under before Alex Reese hit a deep 3 at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, where it flew over the total.
Elite Eight lines
In Monday’s other game, No. 1 Baylor is a 7½-point favorite over No. 3 Arkansas, which escaped with a 72-70 win over 15-seed Oral Roberts as an 11½-point favorite.
In Tuesday’s games, Gonzaga is favored by 9½ over USC, and Michigan is favored by 7½ over UCLA.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
