Led by Cassius Winston’s 20 points and 10 assists on offense, the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans upset the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils 68-67 in the Elite Eight to advance into the Final Four. Michigan State will face No. 3 Texas Tech in the Final Four on Saturday.
Winston, Guy headline updated March Madness MOP odds
Cassius Winston and Kyle Guy enter the Final Four as the betting favorites to win Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Tournament.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Winston has emerged as the new favorite on the odds to win the Most Outstanding Player award going off at +250 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Winston is averaging a respectable 19 points and 7.8 assists per game in the tournament thus far, but his value as a defender and leader doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. If the Spartans win the championship, it will likely be Winston accepting the tournament’s MOP award.
The only other Spartan with a shot at winning the award over Winston is forward Xavier Tillman (+900 to win MOP). Tillman has shined in the tournament with 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and a pair of big performances in the Final Four and title game could get the big man into the conversation.
The No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers are the last remaining one-seed in the NCAA Tournament and are a slight favorite over Michigan State to win it all on the March Madness betting odds. The Cavaliers have a trio of potential MOP candidates in Kyle Guy (+375), Ty Jerome (+750) and De’Andre Hunter (+1000). Guy has jumped ahead of his teammates after an impressive 25 point and 10 rebound performance in Virginia’s 80-75 overtime win over Purdue. But the value may be on Jerome, who scored 24 in that game and leads the team in scoring through four games with 15.5 points per game.
Texas Tech is 13-1 SU and 12-2 ATS on the college basketball betting lines over its last 14 games. Matt Mooney (+2200) and Davide Moretti (+2800) have contributed to the team’s success, but the Red Raiders’ clear leader is Jarrett Culver (+700). Culver led the team with 19 points in its 75-69 win over Gonzaga and has averaged 21.5 points per game so far in the tournament.
Rounding out the Most Outstanding Player contenders are No. 5 Auburn’s Bryce Brown (+1200) and Jared Harper (+1200) and Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite (+2000). Harper led the Tigers with 26 points in their gutsy 77-71 upset over Kentucky in the Elite Eight.
Most Outstanding Player Odds
Cassius Winston +250
Kyle Guy +375
Jarrett Culver +700
Ty Jerome +750
Xavier Tillman +900
De’Andre Hunter +1000
Bryce Brown +1200
Jared Harper +1200
Mamadi Diakite +2000
Matt Mooney +2200
Davide Moretti +2800
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.
