At OddsShopper, we are all about shopping lines and finagling betting value by grabbing edges the market gives us. And one good way to shop is checking out gaps in the market the day before so we can snag some early value. Luckily, OddsShopper has already done some work on Friday’s Round 1 March Madness games, and we have good early odds in Colgate-Baylor coming from Caesars Sportsbook.
Caesars is always killing it with the rewards program, but it is also running a sweet promo for March Madness: Bet $5 on anything and receive $200 in bonus bets if your bet hits!
If you haven’t signed up with Caesars yet, do it now and make your first bet. If it doesn’t hit, Caesars will reimburse you in the form of bonus bets — maximum $1,000. Now let’s pocket that promo and head over to the Colgate-Baylor best bet.
Read more about Caesars Sportsbook and its promos here.
March Madness Early Odds: Colgate-Baylor Round 1
March Madness Next Day Odds: Colgate-Baylor First Half O/U 64.0
Aside from hopping on openings in the market, betting these March Madness games the day before allows us to explore a wide swath of lines and odds. For example, here with Colgate-Baylor, the first half total is set at 64 without the hook at Caesars, Unibet, Pinnacle and BetRivers, while BetMGM, bet365 and FanDuel include the half point. Then there is DraftKings a full point higher at 65.
Caesars is both opening up the expected win rate on the over (54%) by omitting the hook and improving the EV (2.9%) by having odds of -110 that are even with bet365 despite 365 including the half point. These are the gaps that OddsShopper experts are always looking to exploit, and it may not be there by tomorrow morning — best to jump on now while the value is at its peak.
Now, the market is what we are focusing on here most, but for the full picture, Baylor is a No. 3 seed and Colgate a No. 14. The Bears have also been pretty solid overs of late, going for 64-plus in the first half in three of the last five.
Colgate has only hit the over in two of five, but it is also on a five-game winning streak. Expect some offense here, and play the odds that are in our favor while they remain that way.
Colgate-Baylor Best Round 1 Bet: Colgate-Baylor First Half Over 64.0 (-110 at Caesars)