Duke betting favorite to win NCAA Tournament

By Sports Illustrated and SI Wire/Sports Illustrated
Published

ACC Tournament champion Duke is the favorite to win the NCAA Tournament according to several Las Vegas sportsbooks.

The Blue Devils are a No. 2 seed in the East Region and will take on No. 15 seed Troy on Friday.

The Wynn and Westgate SuperBook has Duke as the favorite at 5–1, while William Hill's Nevada sportsbook has North Carolina as the favorite at 13–2, and MGM's sportsbook lists Kansas as the top title contender at 6–1.

Westgate has North Carolina as a 6–1 favorite, followed Kentucky, Kansas and defending national champion Villanova all at 8–1. Gonzaga is listed as a 10–1 favorite, with UCLA, Louisville and Arizona all at 12-1.

Duke started the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason by the Associated Press and USA Today Sports coaches poll after returning three starters from last season's team that reached the Sweet 16 and bringing in one of the nation's top recruiting classes.

They stumbled during conference play, losing three of their last four regular season games and ended up the No. 5 seed in the ACC tournament before becoming the first team to win the ACC tournament with four victories in four days.

- Scooby Axson