Kansas is favourite to lift the 2010 men’s college basketball title in America followed by Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke.
Wednesday 17th March 2010
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship gets under way later this week in America with bookmakers tipping the number-one ranked University Of Kansas as favourites to lift the national title.
Kansas has won the national collegiate men’s basketball title, which is also known as March Madness, on three occasions including most recently in 2008 and are being offered at odds of 13/8 by BoyleSports.com to make it number four this season.
Slightly longer, 888Sport.com, StanJames.com, BlueSq.com and Bet365.com show odds of 7/4 on the ‘Jayhawks’ tasting success this year while Ladbrokes.com is going with 5/2.
The first round of March Madness gets under way on Thursday with 16 single elimination games from sites around the US. Seven-time champion Kentucky is also fancied with BlueSq.com, StanJames.com, 888Sport.com, BoyleSports.com and Bet365.com showing odds of 7/2. With stars including John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe, Kentucky is expected to go deep into the tournament with Ladbrokes.com showing 4/1 on an eighth national title.
Another top-ranked programme is Syracuse University, which won its sole national title in 2003, being shown at odds of 5/1 by Ladbrokes.com to win it all this season. The New York team made it all the way to the ‘Sweet Sixteen’ last year and is being shown at 13/2 by Bet365.com while 888Sport.com, BlueSq.com and StanJames.com are going with 15/2. With a regular season record of 28 wins for four losses, Syracuse should not be taken lightly although BoyleSports.com currently shows odds of 8/1 on a second national title for the ‘Orange’.
March Madness features conference champions from around the US and at-large selections going head-to-head for the national title. Last season’s defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels finished with a record of 16 wins for an identical number of losses and failed to qualify for the tournament.
Another programme that could be worth a flutter is Duke University, which is being offered at odds of 9/2 by Ladbrokes.com to take home this year’s national championship. The Durham-based college has taken home the top prize in US men’s collegiate basketball on three occasions including in 2001 and is being offered at 6/1 by 888Sport.com and BlueSq.com to do it again in 2010. This is being followed by Bet365.com and StanJames.com with 15/2 while BoyleSports.com shows 8/1.
