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Cinderella is no more at NCAA Tournament
The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is in the books, and after one of the craziest first days ever (a record-setting five one-point finishes), things tamed down a bit. Now the Sweet Sixteen is set, and there are no Cinderellas left in the field. (Sorry, R.J. and Ron Hunter)
Sure, there were a couple upsets that have some lower seeds in the Sweet Sixteen, but there’s only one double-digit seed left. That’s UCLA, who isn’t exactly a Cinderella considering the school’s unparalleled basketball history.
A No. 1 seed and two No. 2 seeds went down over the weekend, but the only really surprising outcome was N.C. State taking down top-seeded Villanova. And again, N.C. State isn’t exactly a Cinderella. Michigan State and Wichita State taking down Virginia and Kansas, respectively, were technically upsets, but I don’t think anybody was all that surprised.
Michigan State has a history of playing well in March under Tom Izzo, moving to 13-1 in the Round of 32 under Izzo. Meanwhile, Wichita State nearly went to the Final Four last year and returned most of the key players, and the Shockers destroyed a very vulnerable Kansas squad.
The top four favorites that entered the tournament are still alive. Kentucky struggled offensively against Cincinnati, but the Wildcats’ elite defense shut down the Bearcats and the offense did just enough. Duke handled San Diego State behind monster performances from phenoms Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow. Wisconsin played a tight game against Oregon, just like last year, but Sam Dekker came up big to lead the Badgers to victory. And finally, Arizona shut down D’Angelo Russell and Ohio State in impressive fashion.
Craig Mitchelldyer/Associated Press
Undefeated Kentucky currently has 1/1 odds to finish with a perfect season, according to Bovada. The Wildcats will face West Virginia in the next round.
Next in line is Arizona, who has 13/2 odds. The Wildcats will face Xavier in the Sweet Sixteen.
Then there’s Duke and Wisconsin at 8/1. Duke will face a tough matchup against Utah, who has two future NBA players in Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl. Wisconsin will square off against North Carolina, who also has quite a bit of future NBA talent on the roster.
Behind the top four is Gonzaga at 12/1. Then, somewhat surprisingly, it’s Michigan State at 14/1. The seventh-seeded Spartans have better odds than seven other better seeds than them, and that’s probably due to the Izzo factor.
Here are the full updated odds to win the NCAA title, in order of the seeds.
Kentucky #1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1/1
Wisconsin #1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8/1
Duke #1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8/1
Arizona #2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 13/2
Gonzaga #2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 12/1
Notre Dame #3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 33/1
Oklahoma #3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 25/1
Louisville #4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 25/1
North Carolina #4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 33/1
West Virginia #5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100/1
Utah #5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 20/1
Xavier #6Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100/1
Wichita State #7Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 33/1
Michigan State #7Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 14/1
NC State #8Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 50/1
UCLA #11Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100/1
