NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Odds: Kansas, Oregon Among Favorites
The Oregon Ducks can clinch their first-ever Final Four appearance with a 12th consecutive straight-up win on Saturday when they take on the Oklahoma Sooners as slim 1-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Oregon advanced to the Elite Eight with a decisive 82-68 win over the defending national champion Duke Blue Devils on Thursday night, easily covering as 3-point chalk and boosting its recent against-the-spread record to 7-2 ahead of Saturday evening’s Sooners vs. Ducks betting matchup at Honda Center.
The Ducks have been one of the hottest teams in the nation since New Year’s Day, posting a 20-3 SU record over their past 23 games to claim the Pac-12 regular season and tournament crowns before being selected as the No. 1 seed in the West Region.
No. 2 Oklahoma advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009 with a 77-63 rout of No. 3 Texas A&M on Thursday, easily covering as 2.5-point chalk to end a seven-game ATS losing skid.
Wins at the sportsbooks have been rare for the Sooners, currently on a 3-11 ATS run, tallying back-to-back ATS wins just twice since early December according to the OddsShark College Basketball Database.
The Sooners are also winless in their past two Elite Eight appearances, dropping SU and ATS decisions in 2003 and 2009, failing to cover in their past three appearances.
The South Region champion will also be crowned on Saturday when No. 1 Kansas takes on No. 2 Villanova as 2-point chalk at the online sportsbooks.
Kansas takes the longest current SU winning streak in the nation into Saturday night’s Wildcats vs. Jayhawks betting matchup at KFC Yum! Center, winning 17 straight dating back to late January while going 14-3 ATS, and easily covering in each of their past four outings.
But while the Jayhawks have dominated the Big 12 with 12 straight regular-season championships, and have competed in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 27 years, they have reached the Final Four just twice since 2008, and are a middling 2-3 SU in their past five Elite Eight appearances.
The Wildcats have exceeded expectations since opening the NCAA tournament as a 16-1 bet to claim their first national championship since 1985.
Since being denied top seeding in the East Region, which would have allowed them to play this weekend before a home crowd in Philadelphia, Villanova has responded with a vengeance, powering to the Elite Eight with three lopsided wins, and is unlikely to be intimidated by the Jayhawks, whom they have beaten, SU and ATS, in two of their past three meetings.
Thumbnail photo via Jamie Rhodes/USA TODAY Sports Images
