2010 NCAA Tournament Odds, Free Picks, Tips (3/16)

Last Updated: March 16th, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist)
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List of Current Odds to Win The 2010 NCAA Tournament Can Be Found Below!

(2010 NCAA Tournament Printable Brackets; PDFGIF) On Tuesday night, 65 teams vie for college basketball’s biggest prize in the greatest tournament in all of sports. The NCAA Tournament will kick off with the play-in game between the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions and the Winthrop Eagles, and wrap up on Monday April 5th with the National Championship Game between the two teams that are left standing when the madness of March is complete.

The three leading favorites to win this tournament should come as no surprise to anyone. The Syracuse Orange (+800 at Oddsmaker), Kentucky Wildcats (+400 at Oddsmaker), and Kansas Jayhawks (+200 at Oddsmaker) are the three teams of choice. Some combination of those three teams were all supplanted in the AP’s Top 5 for the better part of the last two months, and even though the Orange bowed out of the Big East Tournament early, they are absolutely still deserving of their spot on the bracket and their status as a favorite to win the whole enchilada.

The fourth #1 seed, the Duke Blue Devils and the four #2 seeds all chime in somewhere between +600 and +800 to round out the overwhelming favorites to win the dance at Oddsmaker.

Looking for some nice prices on underdogs? Try to see if the teams that you’re looking at meet this generic eye test before placing a bet.

#1: Does the team have a true scorer that can take over the game?
#2: Does the team have a relatively favorable draw in the first weekend of the tournament?
#3: Is the team playing anywhere near home?
#4: Is the team going to essentially be playing a road game at any point against a team with home court advantage?
#5: Is there another team that fits this bill in their bracket?

There are a few teams that meet this mold that you’ll be able to get some decent prices on along the way.

Take the #12 Cornell Big Red for example (+75000 at Oddsmaker). The Ivy League champs are proven to be able to stick with anyone in the country (especially after nearly winning in Allen Fieldhouse earlier this year), and they have a big time scoring machine in F Ryan Wittman (17.5 PPG). Their draw isn’t the easiest in the world, but the way that Temple and Wisconsin both play, Wittman can catch some fire and knock out either team. Yes, at that point, #1 Kentucky probably awaits, but by then, you’ve got +75000 on a team that you can just scalp out of every step of the way in the future.

The odds aren’t quite as long on the #5 Texas A&M Aggies (+6000 at Oddsmaker), but this team has a schedule that could arguably leave it in the Final Four. Yes, Utah State is a difficult first game and could go against our rule of thumb about going against teams with home court advantage, but if the Aggies can dispose of USU, there could be some really, really clear sailing to the Elite Eight. Purdue is the weakest #4 seed in the field, and the Boilers may be primed to be upset by #13 Siena. Duke may get a heck of a challenge from the Cal/Louisville winner, and as a #5, if there’s a #1 seed that you want to face in this tournament, Coach K’s club is the one. A&M will also be playing just up the road in Houston, which could provide a major boost to a team which has the ability to catch fire in a hurry.

Lastly, stay away from all of these glitzy odds on teams like the #16 Lehigh Mountain Hawks (+2500000 at Oddsmaker) and the sorts. There are only probably 20 teams that legitimately have a chance of winning the National Championship, and none of the teams with seven digit odds are amongst them. It may be nice to laugh and say that you’ve got a $10 ticket that can turn into 2.5 million bucks, but you seriously have a better chance of buying ten quick picks for your local lottery than you do of one of these teams at these odds winning one game, let alone six of them against the elite teams in the nation.

Current Odds to win the 2010 NCAA Tournament @ Oddsmaker (as of 2/26/10):
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Kansas +200
Kentucky +400
Duke +600
Syracuse +800
Ohio State +600
West Virginia +800
Villanova +800
Kansas State +800
Georgetown +1000
New Mexico +3000
Pittsburgh +4000
Baylor +2000
Maryland +3000
Wisconsin +2000
Vanderbilt +5000
Purdue +5000
Temple +6000
Butler +7500
Texas A&M +6000
Tennessee +7500
Marquette +6000
Xavier +6000
Notre Dame +5000
Oklahoma State +6000
Clemson +10000
BYU +5000
Richmond +20000
UNLV +30000
Texas +4000
Gonzaga +15000
California +15000
Northern Iowa +50000
Wake Forest +10000
Florida State +7500
Louisville +5000
Georgia Tech +25000
Missouri +6000
Florida +15000
St. Mary’s +30000
San Diego State +75000
Washington +15000
Minnesota +10000
Old Dominion +15000
New Mexico State +75000
Cornell +75000
Utah State +30000
UTEP +50000
Houston +75000
Wofford +150000
Siena +75000
Murray State +300000
Ohio +150000
Montana +300000
Oakland +1500000
San Houston State +150000
UC Santa Barbara +300000
Morgan State +2500000
North Texas +1500000
Robert Morris +1500000
Lehigh +2500000
East Tennessee State +2500000
Vermont +1500000
Arkansas Pine-Bluff +2500000
Winthrop +2500000

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Posted in NCAA Basketball - Last Updated on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 @ 4:56 am (EST)
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