Tournament Betting Insights: Florida Favors Florida

It’s the most won-der-ful time of the year… tournament time. From a sports betting perspective it doesn’t get much better than win-or-go-home college basketball action, and with the tournament beginning tonight – Hard Rock Bet is ready. Since the bracket was unveiled on Sunday night the action has been pouring in. Here are the top trends we’re following so far on Hard Rock Bet:

Floridians are betting on Florida

Hard Rock bet is the only legal app for sports betting in Florida, and as such, it should come as no surprise that in-state bettors are all over Florida.

• 36% of national title futures placed in the first 24 hours after the bracket came out were on Florida.
• St. John’s was the next highest at just 9.7%, followed by #1 seeds Duke, Houston, and Auburn.

Check out some of the more interesting college basketball futures tickets we’ve got that are still live heading into the tournament.

Prices are moving

Florida opened at +475 to win it all, and have already been bet down to +350. By contrast, Duke, the tournament favorite, opened at +300 and is now available at +275. (Need a little help understanding odds? We’ve got you.)

Favorites for a reason

Every bettor dreams of picking out the high seed that makes an improbable run at long odds… but so far the top eight seeds (4 x #1s and 4 x #2s) are the eight most-bet teams on Hard Rock Bet. While everyone loves the longshot, when it comes time to put money on it, bettors are backing the favorites.

Teams included here are:

• #1 Duke
• #1 Florida
• #1 Houston
• #1 Auburn
• #2 St. John’s
• #2 Michigan State
• #2 Alabama
• #2 Tennessee

Searching for Cinderella

While the 1s and 2s are catching action, whose in the running for this year’s Cinderella story?

Michigan: Best of the rest?

The #5 seed in the South, Michigan, are the ninth most-bet team so far on Hard Rock Bet at +10000. With a 25-9 record, Michigan caught fire in their conference tournament – running the table with impressive wins over three ranked teams in Purdue, Maryland, and Wisconsin – they definitely have momentum, and the bettors seem to like that.

Connecticut three-peat

The tenth most-bet team to win it all is none other than the two-time defending champion UConn. At 23-10, it’s safe to say this season hasn’t gone the way that Connecticut had hoped. However, we’ve seen the team catch fire at the right time two years in a row. At +6000, bettors are taking a chance on the #8 seed in the West Region.

Make way for Maryland

Maryland, the #4 seed in the West, are the eleventh most-bet team to cut down the nets thus far. They’re currently +5000, but have surpassed expectations at every opportunity this season. They were the runner-up in their conference during the regular season, and lost a tight 1 point game against Michigan in their conference tourney semifinal. Whose to say they don’t have a run in them?

Go Gonzaga

Rounding out the top twelve most-bet teams are the Gonzaga (+4000). It was a disappointing start to the season for Mark Few’s team, by their own lofty standards, but the team has really found its form in recent weeks. They’re 11-2 over their last 13 games, with both losses coming against conference rival Saint Mary’s. However, they avenged the losses by knocking off Saint Mary’s 58-51 in their conference championship game. They were awarded the #8 seed in the Midwest Region.

First Round Action

The first round games currently receiving the most betting interest are:

• Michigan vs San Diego
• Purdue vs High Point
• Texas A&M vs Yale
• Clemson vs McNeese State
• BYU vs VCU

Notably, all favorites have a higher percentage of bets than the underdogs in every first round matchup.

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