The Michigan State Spartans are 7-1 straight up and 8-0 against the spread over their last eight games. Tom Izzo’s squad appears to be rounding into form as the NCAA Tournament approaches.
NCAA basketball tournament odds 2016: Spartans, Jayhawks headline list
Michigan State and Kansas lead the pack of contenders on the odds to win this year’s NCAA Tournament.
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Michigan State is a co-favorite to win the NCAA Tournament this season at +750 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Spartans had fallen down to +1200 on the betting board to win the championship after hitting a 3-4 SU and 2-5 ATS midseason slump a little over a month ago, but the team’s recent surge has put the Spartans back into the favor of hoops bettors with a 23-5 SU and 18-9 ATS record on the year.
The Xavier Musketeers entered this week at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll, and their stock should continue to rise after an impressive 90-83 win at home over the Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday night.
Xavier is 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS over its last 10 games per the OddsShark College Basketball Database including a current 4-0 SU and ATS run with wins over Villanova, Georgetown and Butler. The Musketeers are going off at +1600 to win the national title, putting them at the same price as the Duke Blue Devils, Iowa Hawkeyes and Virginia Cavaliers.
Another recent riser is the Kentucky Wildcats, who are up to +1000 to win the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 5-1 SU and 4-2 ATS stretch over the last two weeks. Those five wins have come by an average margin of victory of 23 points per game.
While there has been some movement around the top of the board, three teams still expected to be major contenders for the championship when the tournament rolls around are the Kansas Jayhawks (+750), North Carolina Tar Heels (+800), and Oklahoma Sooners (+1000).
In that group, no team is hotter than Kansas, who has taken over first place in the Big 12 from Oklahoma.
Kansas is a perfect 8-0 SU and ATS over its last eight games, and that’s a stretch that includes home wins over Kentucky and West Virginia and road wins over Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor. The Jayhawks look to be rounding into top form just in time for the postseason.
