In a Round of 32 that saw the betting favorites go 16-0 straight up and 10-6 against the spread, no favorite was in bigger jeopardy than the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils who narrowly escaped with a 77-76 win over UCF. The tournament favorites will try to put together a less stressful showing this Friday when they take on the No. 4 Virginia Tech Hokies.
2019 Sweet 16 odds: Friday March Madness betting lines, trends
The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels look to survive tough tests in the Sweet 16 as clear betting favorites at the sportsbooks.
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Duke is a 7.5-point favorite on the March Madness odds in Washington at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Hokies are 3-1 SU and ATS in their last four games against Duke including a 77-72 upset win at home back in February. The Blue Devils will have Zion Williamson in action this time around, but even the superstar forward’s presence hasn’t helped Duke at the betting window of late as the Blue Devils are just 1-6 ATS over their last seven games.
The No. 5 Auburn Tigers entered the tournament as a popular dark horse pick to go deep, and they’ve lived up to the hype thus far improving to 10-0 SU and 6-4 ATS over their last six games with an 89-75 win over Kansas. The Tigers are a 5.5-point underdog on Friday against No. 1 North Carolina at online sports betting sites. The Tar Heels are 10-1 SU and 8-3 ATS over their last 11 games.
The No. 2 Michigan State Spartans are the biggest favorite of the four No. 2 seeds in the Sweet 16 going off at -6 against the No. 3 LSU Tigers. The Spartans are 12-1 SU and 9-3 ATS over a run that includes a Big Ten Championship. LSU is 0-3 ATS over its last three games on the college basketball betting lines.
The No. 3 Houston Cougars will be making their first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1984 this Friday as 3-point underdogs against the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats. The Cougars are 33-3 SU and 22-12-2 ATS this season including a 4-1 SU and ATS record in five games as a betting underdog. Kentucky has seen the total go UNDER in 12 of its last 15 games. The total in this matchup is set at 134.5 points.
Sweet 16 Friday Games Betting Lines
No. 4 Virginia Tech vs. No. 1 Duke (-7.5)
No. 3 LSU vs. No. 2 Michigan State (-6)
No. 5 Auburn vs. No. 1 North Carolina (-5.5)
No. 3 Houston vs. No. 2 Kentucky (-3)
For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
