It looked like the Texas Longhorns’ NCAA tournament was on jeopardy this Thursday after they gave up a large second half lead to Penn State. The Longhorns got it together and opened their lead back up toward the end of the game and would not look back. They now face the Xavier Musketeers in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday. Xavier had a scare of their own in a first round comeback win over Kennesaw State, and although they controlled the game on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Panthers, they’ll open as four point underdogs to Texas on the March Madness odds board.
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March Madness Odds: Texas Opens as Favorite Over Xavier in Sweet 16
The NCAA Tournament’s first weekend has yet to conclude, but that hasn’t stopped sportsbooks from preparing for the Sweet Sixteen. Market making books quickly set the number for Xavier and Texas as -4 to the Longhorns after Xavier advanced on Sunday morning.
It remains to be seen how bettors will react to the initial number, and most outlets have yet to act upon the opening lines. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Texas is favored given their status as a two seed.
The opening for the game’s over/under is 148.5 points. The number for the moneyline is -185 for Texas, +165 on Xavier. Accounting for the Vig, that puts the underdog Musketeers at about a 3.5:1 to win the game. Given the amount of early upsets in the first two rounds of this year’s NCAA tournament, books will be awaiting the reaction from the sharpest bettors as the prices settle.
Xavier has been one of the more intriguing teams of the tournament, drawing headlines for a sidelines spat in their first round matchup. As the team was struggling to defeat the 13 seed Kennesaw State, starters Souley Boum and Adam Kunkel let go of their emotions.
Things got heated between Xavier teammates pic.twitter.com/xfeBiNUwLz
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2023
Despite the negative energy the Musketeers came back to win the game and were favored in their second round tilt. It seems that both sharp bettors and the public are not punishing them for the dramatics, and have moved on. If or how this will impact the number is unknown.
Wherever the trends lead, OddsShopper’s Premium tools will be analyzing the market for the best lines to find the outlets where the highest expected value bets can be placed. The tools comb spreads, moneyline and totals, in addition to finding the best prop bets with the highest ROI. Bettors benefit from a free seven-day trial to OddsShopper Premium to make use of these tools throughout the rest of the tournament and in other major sports like the NBA and NHL.
