March Madness is known for just that; madness. Everyone remembers the crazy unpredictable wins and losses that turned the tournament upside down and ruined brackets. The March Madness underdog bets are the most fun and have a storied history.
Some notable round one upsets include, second-ranked 2012 Missouri being ousted against Norfolk State and Mercer University defeating Jabari Parker’s Duke (which I correctly predicted).
Everyone wants to find the big odds that will make you rich. The reality is, those bets are few and far between. I will throw a few of those out there. However, these bets are usually worth about half a unit or less.
Predicting Mercer to beat Duke at 12:1 is extremely rare. It is best to stick between the +200 and +100 area. The slight underdogs rather than the slight favorites.
Best Underdog Bets Round 1 NCAA Tournament
Georgetown Hoyas (+185) vs. Colorado Boulders: Sat. 12:15 PM Est.
Georgetown is red hot coming off their domination of the Big Ten Tournament. They annihilated Creighton in the championship game and also defeated a strong Villanova team. On the other hand, Colorado was upset by Oregon State in the PAC-12 championship game.
Georgetown looked phenomenal in the tournament and plenty of bets have come in on them to win the tournament in totality. Those bettors are grabbing Georgetown at 100:1 in many places. I guess there are worse 100:1 bets out there to take.
Pick: Georgetown Hoyas +185
UC Santa Barbara (+270) vs. Creighton BlueJays: Sat. 3:30 PM Est.
Speaking of Creighton, the Bluejays were thoroughly dominated by Georgetown. The game was non-competitive throughout. Despite being the second seed in the tournament, Creighton lost 73-48 to Georgetown in the title game. This is a rather debilitating loss and one that makes me unsure if they can rebound.
UC Santa Barbara had two early-season losses to UC Irvine. They righted that wrong by defeating UC Irvine in the Big West tournament. They end the season 22-4 and winners of the Big West.
Pick: UCSB +270
March Madness Longshot Bet
Morehead St. (+660) vs. West Virginia: Fri. 9:50 PM Est.
With any longshot, there is always going to be doubt – or a reason not to take it. How about a reason to take it? West Virginia lost their last two games to Oklahoma State. Furthermore, looking at their record, they were just 18-9. While the competition has been fierce, I am legitimately worried about their 18-9 record and two-game losing streak.
Conversely, Morehead St. is on a seven-game win streak and won their conference. They are far from the most talented team in the tournament. I would even say that this is a solid matchup for West Virginia. However, the odds are far too high. I would never trust West Virginia as a near 10:1 favorite.
Pick: Morehead St. (+660)