These Six-Figure Payouts On NCAA Tournament Cinderellas Can’t Win, Right?!

There’s lighting your money on fire and then there’s whatever the heck these college basketball bettors were doing leading up to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Well, at least that’s the way it feels early Thursday afternoon with all 64 teams still alive in March Madness.

BetMGM revealed some of its insights prior to the opening first-round game between West Virginia and Maryland and three massive, six-figure payouts were among the most notable bets.

NCAA Tournament Picks: 2023 Bracket Advice For All Four Regions

Mar 15, 2023

One bettor placed a national championship future on Howard to win the entire tournament, a wager that would turn $100 into $200,000 given the 20,000-1 odds. The Bison, however, are the No. 16 seed in the loaded West region and will face off with No. 1 Kansas in their first-round game. In addition to the Jayhawks, the West also features the UCLA Bruins, Gonzaga Bulldogs and UConn Huskies, four teams that rank atop the betting board. Oh yeah, and there never has been a No. 16 seed to win the tournament, with a No. 16 seed only beating the No. 1 seed once in men’s college basketball.

In that same West region, another bettor placed $500 on the No. 13 Iona Gaels to win the title. It would turn $500 into $500,000 given the 1,000-1 odds. Iona first will have to get past the Huskies of UConn, the No. 4 seed in the West. And while those upsets tend to be much more familiar, it’s nevertheless incredibly difficult to envision the MAAC champions cutting down the nets at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Venturing to the Midwest region, a different bettor at BetMGM placed $500 on a different No. 13 seed to win the whole thing: Kent State. The $500 wager would result in a $250,000 payout. And while there’s something to be said about the veteran, battle-tested team from Kent State, the likelihood of the Golden Flashes winning the NCAA championship, well, they’re indicative of their 500-1 price. Kent State surely could end up advancing past the No. 4 Indiana Hoosiers, but with both the top-seeded Houston Cougars and No. 2 Texas Longhorns elsewhere in the region, it would take quite the run just to reach the Final Four.