Popular Las Vegas props, picks for NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

You can bet on that increasingly popular proposition at MGM Resorts sports book, which took a ton of action on it in the NCAA Tournament’s first two rounds.

“A few people said the reason they come over here is for the first-to-15,” The Mirage sports book director Jeff Stoneback said. “You can always tell when a team gets close to 15. Especially when an underdog hits, the whole room goes nuts.”

The crowd exploded countless times Friday, when Lipscomb, Texas Southern, Georgia State and Marshall were among the big underdogs that cashed on the prop.

Lipscomb was plus 350 against North Carolina, which cut the deficit to 14-13 on a layup before Rob Marberry answered with a jumper to give Bisons backers a payday 6:04 into the game.

Things looked bleak for Texas Southern bettors, as Xavier jumped to a 13-4 lead. But the Tigers scored the next 13 points to win the prop as plus 220 underdogs.

“All they do is play the underdog on those. They like to take plus 2-1 or better,” Stoneback said. “We got beat so bad on those on Friday, we were joking that maybe we should change it to first to 20.”

Last Man Standing

Eighty-seven of 2,525 entries remain in Station Casinos’ college basketball Last Man Standing contest. The winner will claim the total prize pool of $51,350. Each contestant must make a daily selection against the spread.

Smart money

Westgate sports book manager Ed Salmons and Boyd Gaming sports book director Bob Scucci reported taking sharp action on Kansas State, a 5½-point underdog to Kentucky after the line climbed as high as 6½.

“That’s probably the biggest disparity on the board between the public and sharp guys,” Scucci said. “Kentucky has more tickets written on it than any other team in the Sweet 16. However, we’ve seen bigger action on Kansas State. We opened it at 6½, and the big-money guys took it at plus 6½ and plus 6.”

Scucci said the sharps also are on Loyola-Chicago, which is a 1-point underdog to UNR at some shops after the Wolf Pack opened as 2-point favorites.

“We’re getting bigger money on Loyola-Chicago, even though the ticket count is bigger on Nevada,” he said. “Even UNLV fans are now rooting for Nevada.”

Best bets Kansas State (+5.5) over Kentucky Kansas (-4.5) over Clemson

Salmons likes Kansas State and Kansas to cover. The No. 1-seeded Jayhawks are 4½-point favorites over Clemson, which is coming off a 31-point blowout of Auburn.

“Clemson is overrated,” he said. “People remember them beating Auburn by (31), but Auburn should’ve lost to Charleston. This game in Omaha is essentially a home game for Kansas. The stadium will be 90 percent Kansas fans.”

Michigan (-2.5) over Texas A&M Syracuse (+11.5) over Duke

Handicapper Bruce Marshall, who went 9-3 ATS on his first-round picks in the Review-Journal Madness Challenge, said the Wolverines are his best bet.

“Michigan was rusty in both games and is fortunate to be there. But I can’t see A&M playing that well two games in a row,” said Marshall (Goldsheet.com). “Michigan looked like the best team in the country coming into the tournament, and there’s no reason that team can’t resurface, especially the way they won that game (with a buzzer-beater against Houston). That could be the propeller to win more.”

The Orange and their stifling 2-3 zone defense have limited their three tournament opponents to 56 points or fewer, and they also slowed the Blue Devils in a 60-44 loss in February at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“Duke couldn’t speed them up the last time they played,” Marshall said. “Syracuse is offensively challenged, but they jammed the brakes on Duke before, and if they play at that sort of pace, I’ll take my chances that Syracuse can cover that number.”

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