March Madness Betting Action hits the Weekend

They don't call it March Madness for nothing, and after a few shocking results on the opening day of the NCAA Tournament it's doubtful anyone still has a perfect bracket.

Thursday’s action started with an upset right out of the gate in the South Region with No. 11 Dayton taking out No. 6 Ohio State 60-59 as a 6.5-point underdog on the Bovada closing betting line. Harvard followed suit in the first 12 vs. 5 upset of the day with a 61-57 victory over Cincinnati in the East after closing as a 3-point underdog in that game’s betting odds. The Crimson will now get a shot at No. 4 Michigan State on Saturday as a 7.5-point underdog.

As the day went on the madness continued with another 12 vs. 5 upset when North Dakota State prevailed in overtime with an 80-75 win over Oklahoma as a 3.5-point underdog in a West Region matchup. The Bison will now face No. 4 San Diego State in the Round of 32. Bovada has yet to set the betting odds for this game, but look for the Aztecs to be favored by a few points.

No. 5 Saint Louis, out of the Midwest Region, narrowly avoided being the third casualty of the day in a tight 83-80 come-from-behind victory over No. 12 North Carolina State. This game ended as a PUSH with the Billikens favored by three. They will now face No. 4 Louisville, which had a scare of its own in a 71-64 win over Manhattan as a prohibitive 16-point favorite on the Bovada closing betting odds.

The remainder of Thursday’s games went pretty much according to form which sets up some intriguing matchups on the rest of Saturday’s slate. At the top of the list is a matchup between No. 1 Florida and No. 9 Pittsburgh in the South Region with the Gators listed as 5-point favorites. Florida came into this tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation and the top overall seed, but it hardly played the part on Thursday in a sluggish 67-55 win over No. 16 Albany as a 21.5-point favorite.