After posting lopsided wins over No. 16 UC Davis and No. 9 Michigan State in the opening week of the NCAA Tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks enter the Sweet 16 atop the championship odds as +475 favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Midwest Region’s top seed claimed victory by an average margin of 29 points in its first two tournament outings, and is listed as a 4.5-point favourite for Thursday night’s Sweet 16 matchup against No. 4 Purdue.
The Boilermakers punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 with an 80-76 win over No. 5 Iowa State as one-point chalk, and are 5-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last six dates with Big 12 opponents but winless straight up (SU) in two previous tournament clashes with Kansas.
Also in the Midwest Region, No. 7 Michigan aims for an eighth-straight SU win when they take on No. 3 Oregon as 1.5-point betting favourites. The Wolverines have struggled as favourites this season, going 4-3 ATS in their past seven and 10-14 ATS overall, but are 7-1 ATS in eight neutral site contests.
[relatedlinks]
The Ducks are 3-1 SU and ATS in four Sweet 16 appearances, and 13-2 SU in their past 15 March outings, but a dismal 4-9 SU as March Madness underdogs since 2002.
The North Carolina Tar Heels survived a scare in their Round of 32 clash with No. 8 Arkansas, squeezing out an 72-65 win as 11.5-point chalk, and look to reclaim top spot on the national championship odds when they face No. 4 Butler on Friday as 7.5-point favourites.
North Carolina opened the tournament as the South Region’s top seed and the futures betting favourite but trails Kansas with +500 odds ahead of its matchup with the Bulldogs, who make their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since reaching the national championship game in 2011.
The South’s other matchup sees No. 3 UCLA battling No. 2 Kentucky as slim 1-point chalk. The Wildcats are unbeaten SU in seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, going 6-1 ATS, while the Bruins have covered just once in 10 Sweet 16 appearances and are 1-4 ATS in their past five games overall.
In other Sweet Sixteen action this week two Cinderella squads hope to keep their national championship dreams alive, as No. 11 Xavier meets No. 2 Arizona as a 7-point underdog while No. 7 South Carolina makes its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance by facing No. 3 Baylor as a 3.5-point underdog.
As well, No. 8 Wisconsin will follow up its stunning 65-62 win over defending champions Villanova by taking on No. 4 Florida as a 1.5-point underdog, while No. 1 Gonzaga is a 3-point betting favourite over No. 4 West Virginia.