Sportsbooks continue rooting against Duke in all-chalk Final Four
March 31 - With all four No. 1 seeds reaching the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years, Duke is the favorite to best the rest.
Early odds updates after the conclusion of the Elite Eight on Sunday pegged the Blue Devils as the clear favorites over Auburn, Houston and Florida in the race for the national championship.
Duke will play Houston in one national semifinal this Saturday in San Antonio, with SEC rivals Auburn and Florida colliding in the other.
BetMGM lists Duke as the -110 favorite to win the championship after starting the season at +1100. The problem for BetMGM is that Duke carries far and away the largest handle (40.5 percent) and the most tickets (14.1 percent), making the Blue Devils their No. 1 liability.
"All one-seeds reach the Final Four for just the second time in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2008," BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini said in a release. "The tournament has gone in the bettors' favor with favorites consistently winning. The sportsbook is cheering against a Duke-Florida final."
One notable bet reported by BetMGM saw $500,000 placed on Duke to win the national title at +350 odds.
Florida is responsible for the second-largest share of the tickets (9.1 percent) and the handle (11.7 percent) at the sportsbook.
Elsewhere, Duke was the +105 favorite to win the title at FanDuel Sportsbook and +110 via BetOnline.ag.
Auburn, despite being the top overall seed in the tournament field, finds itself with the longest odds to win it all. The Tigers are +500 at BetMGM, FanDuel and BetOnline.ag.
Auburn beat Michigan State 70-64 in the South Region final Sunday shortly after Houston defeated Tennessee 69-50 in the Midwest Region final. Both of those games pitted No. 1 seeds against No. 2s.
On Saturday, Florida rallied for an 84-79 win over No. 3 Texas Tech in the West Region final and Duke ran away from No. 2 Alabama 85-65 in the East final.
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