March Madness betting: Wagers split on North Carolina and Kansas for title game
North Carolina's NCAA tournament run hasn't persuaded oddsmakers or early bettors all that much.
After North Carolina beat Duke on Saturday night to set up a UNC-Kansas title game on Monday night. Kansas opened as a 3.5-point favorite at BetMGM. That quickly jumped to 4.5.
Bettors are split, at least in the first few hours of betting on the championship game. On the spread, 49 percent of bets are on North Carolina and 51 percent are on Kansas.
It's a pretty good matchup for Monday night, especially in terms of betting it.
Kansas favored over North Carolina
It's no surprise Kansas is the favorite on Monday night.
The Jayhawks looked amazing in the second half of their Elite Eight game against Miami, then started hot against Villanova in the national semifinal and were never really challenged. Most of the betting money was on Kansas as a 4- or 4.5-point favorite and they covered easily in an 81-65 win. Plenty of bettors have some extra cash to put on Monday night's game after that KU cover.
North Carolina has been a great story this tournament. The Tar Heels had a resume without any great wins until the regular-season finale, when they beat Duke. That started a great run for a dangerous No. 8 seed. UNC has covered each of its five tournament games pretty easily. The win on Saturday night against Duke, in a really fun and well-played game, will live forever in that rivalry.
North Carolina still has another game to go. Beating Duke in such a big game on Saturday was an emotional high. There could be some hangover, though you'd figure playing for a national title would eliminate some of that.
Good matchup for the title game
For the final college basketball game of the season, the over/under is 153.5 and on the moneyline, Kansas is -190 and UNC is +155. On the total, 79 percent of the early money is on the over at BetMGM.
It's a fun matchup Monday night between two of the most historic programs in the sport. In 1957 the Tar Heels beat Kansas for the national title in triple overtime, knocking off Wilt Chamberlain and the Jayhawks 54-53 in one of the most famous games in college basketball history. Maybe we'll see another classic on Monday night.
The sportsbooks in Las Vegas and elsewhere should be pretty fun on Monday night, with about half the crowd on each side. That's a good way to send off the college basketball season.
