Ahead of Sweet 16, Vegas oddsmakers bullish on Kansas Jayhawks’ chances of winning
After the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the Kansas men’s basketball team has seen its odds improve and it now has the second-best chance to cut the nets in New Orleans.
The Jayhawks hammered Texas Southern 83-56 in the first round and then beat Creighton 79-72 and advanced to the Sweet 16.
Before March Madness began, Kansas was third among the betting favorites. DraftKings had the Jayhawks at +600, behind Gonzaga (+250) and Arizona (+500).
The Lines had KU tied with Kentucky at +850 last week before the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That was behind Gonzaga (+300) and Arizona (+500). But Kentucky lost its opening game, and the Jayhawks have leaped Arizona for the second-best odds among the remaining 16 teams.
KU now is at +400, The LInes said, trailing Gonzaga (+200) but ahead of Arizona (+550).
Those improved odds for KU are consistent with what other oddsmakers are saying. Here is a look at the Jayhawks’ current odds.
BetMGM gives KU the second-best chance of winning the NCAA Championship with +450 odds, behind only the Zags (+230). The Jayhawks’ chance of returning to the Final Four is listed at minus-175.
Arizona (+500) and Purdue (+850) have the next best odds to be crowned national champions.
Jeff Sherman of Super Book Sports shared the odds for each Sweet 16 team in a Twitter post.
Odds Shark has KU at +500, which is the same odds given to Arizona. The Zags are the favorites at +225.
Bleacher Report gave its odds for each of the final 16 teams still playing.
The methodology was “based on a combination of how good each squad was during the regular season, how good it has looked through two games and how difficult its remaining path is.”
Kansas is listed as having a 17.5% chance of winning the national title.
“It might be up to Kansas to prove the predictive metrics right,” Kerry Miller wrote. “The Jayhawks should be the heavy favorite in the Sweet 16 against Providence, and then again in the Elite Eight against either Iowa State or Miami. With the exception of maybe Purdue, they have the easiest path to the Final Four. Although a likely path of Arizona-Gonzaga in New Orleans still keeps this team’s title chances at a little below 20 percent.”
Gonzaga at 25% had the best chance of winning the tournament.
CBS Sports reseeded the Sweet 16 teams, and Kansas was slotted in at No. 2 behind Gonzaga.
Chip Patterson wrote: “Remy Martin’s emergence has become the X-factor in Kansas’ title hopes, and his 20 points in the second round are part of the reason this team is still in the tournament.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 8:50 AM.
