Professional bettors share their most valuable March Madness bets before Selection Sunday
March Madness is officially on our doorstep, and soon we’ll have 68 teams in the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament jockeying for the right to keep the UConn Huskies from repeating as champions.
IT’S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.
UConn (+475 at DraftKings) is the consensus favorite, with Houston (+600) and Purdue (+750) right behind. But anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament, as we saw in last year’s Final Four, which featured No. 4 UConn as the highest seed.
For The Win asked a few respected bettors about their value bets to win the 2024 NCAA tournament. Here’s what they’re eyeing.
Mike Randle, Chief Content Officer at FTN: Tennessee Volunteers (11-1)
“It’s Tennessee’s world and we are all just living in it.
“The narrative that head coach Rick Barnes can’t win in March is incredibly misguided. Barnes has a 803-413 (66 percent) career winning percentage, with a Big East Tournament Championship, two SEC Tournament Championships and a Final Four appearance. He has found immense success in the Big East, Big 12 and SEC, the three toughest basketball conferences in the nation.
“The Volunteers have made five straight NCAA tournaments, and reached the Sweet 16 last season, leading by 11 points over Florida Atlantic without guard Zakai Zeigler. The one thing Tennessee was always missing was that late-game scorer, which has been solved with SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht. The Northern Colorado transfer is averaging 21.4 PPG, while shooting 40.5 percent from 3-point range on over six attempts per game.
“Tennessee has everything we want in a title future bet: great defense (third in KenPom), a top 25 offense, strong at the free-throw line (75 percent), and rarely beats itself (first in offensive turnover percentage within SEC). The Volunteers are living in the shadow of UConn, Purdue and Houston, but everything points to this being the year for Barnes to silence the critics. I got this number at +1400 and I’m still on it at +1100 on DraftKings.”
Thomas Casale, College Basketball Handicapper for CBS SportsLine: Florida Gators (70-1), UNC Tar Heels (15-1)
“I took this all the way back in April last year at 100-1. I don’t think the Gators will win the NCAA tournament, but they are rounding into shape at the right time. They are a great offensive rebounding team, which is one of the metrics I emphasize in the tournament.
“I got [UNC] back when it was 30-1, but I think this team is on a bit of a mission after being embarrassed last year. They got Harrison Ingram to come over from Stanford. My hope is that UNC can be on the opposite side of UConn in the bracket — the Huskies are the one team that can beat anyone at any time.”
Jason Logan, Covers.com Handicapper: Iowa State Cyclones (25-1)
“Defense is going to get teams to the Final Four, and Iowa State is a team I really like. Their offense is somewhat generated from their defense, but their swarming D will travel and cause issues for teams. If they play a good ball-control team, it’s a big problem, but I think they’re a really tough matchup. Iowa State is a team to watch out for.”
SURVIVOR POOL: Free to enter. $2,500 to win. Can you survive the madness?