The Future of Sports Marketing by Richard Gillis now available
Wednesday 8th March 2006
With the ‘Big Dance’ just around the corner, NCAA basketball teams have one last chance to make an impression at Selection Sunday this weekend and Sportsbook.com has odds on all the games.
The top two teams going into March Madness according to a recent poll are Connecticut and Villanova who are set to battle one another for the Big East crown – Sportsbook.com has Connecticut as the slight favorite at an even pick, with Villanova at 2-1.
Duke, the pre-season favorite to win the national championship is an even pick in the ACC, followed by the surprising defending National Champions, North Carolina at 5-1.
The tightest conference to call seems to be the SEC where Florida, Tennessee and LSU all sit at 9-4 co-favorites to win the title. The PAC 10 and Big 10 are also anyone's guess as no team has stood out despite having several nationally ranked teams. UCLA is the favorite to win the PAC 10 at 7-5, followed closely by Washington at 2-1 and California at 9-2. Illinois, last year's NCAA tournament finalists, are 8-5 favorites in the Big 10 with Ohio State hot on their heels at 3-2 and Iowa at 9-2.
Alex Czajkowski of Sportsbook.com said, ‘Everybody bets on March Madness. It's one of the biggest betting events of the year, but more and more people are starting to bet on the conference tournaments. There is just so much on the line in these tournaments and the passion runs deep - it's a great lead-in to March Madness.’
The NCAA Basketball Tournament's field of 65 teams will be revealed live on Sunday, March 12 and the tournament begins properly on March 15 with the national championships final on April 3.
