No. 10 Miami Hurricanes ride wave to top of NCAA Tournament odds

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The Miami Hurricanes rose from a longshot No. 10 seed to a bona fide championship contender. Pundits and those who, more importantly, put their money where their mouth is, embraced the sudden ascent. 

The Hurricanes influenced the most significant point spread shift of all men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 teams by moving from a +1 underdog to sitting as a 2.5-points favorite at Tipico Sportsbook. 

As Paste BN columnist Dan Wolken wrote, the Hurricanes leaned on their experience and age under respected Coach Jim Larranaga in wins against USC and No. 2 Auburn. 

Miami's 24-year-old guards Kameron McGusty and Charlie Moore are in their sixth year of college after transferring and the added eligibility provided by the COVID-19 pandemic. Forward Sam Waardenburg, 23, is another sixth-year senior The Hurricanes' youngest starter is 21. 

OPINION: The secret to Miami's Sweet 16 success? Hurricanes are older than some NBA teams

Caesars Sportsbook and WynnBET have also seen bettors load up on Miami in its meeting against No. 11 seed Iowa State (Friday at 9:59 p.m. ET, TBS). Iowa State is coming off an upset of No. 3 Wisconsin. 

In its 79-61 rout of Auburn, the Hurricanes confidently buried big, second-half shots and forced Auburn into a desperate, erratic showing. 

“Miami has that certain something where Iowa State doesn’t,” said Adam Pullen, Caesars Sportsbook’s assistant director of trading. “Iowa State is a vanilla-style team. They’re not too flashy. Miami has more offensive pop and they seem a little more reliable. The edge in coaching goes to Larranaga over [T.J.] Oltzelberger.” 

The Miami-Iowa State total has also dipped, remaining the lowest Sweet 16 total on the board at 133.5 at Tipico.  

No. 1 Gonzaga gives bettors confidence 

West No.1 Gonzaga gained a point from bettors’ support, standing as a 9.5-points favorite over No. 4 Arkansas (Thursday at 7:09 p.m. ET, CBS), according to Tipico Sportsbook manager Sunny Gupta. 

The Bulldogs failed to cover the point spread thus far in the tournament and were tested mightily before emerging with an 82-78 victory over Memphis. 

“It seems the public is on Gonzaga to make a statement after two (competitive) games,” Gupta said. 

WynnBET and Caesars Sportsbook saw returning finalist Gonzaga go from -8 to -9.5. 

“I’m a little surprised that this line has moved up,” Caesars’ Pullen said. “Maybe people are expecting Gonzaga to bounce back and be more prepared after how tight their first games were. But they played two good teams, one of the best No. 16 seeds (Georgia State) that’s ever been in the tournament. On paper, it just seems like Arkansas is going to be another tough matchup for them.” 

The Gonzaga-Arkansas 154.5 total is the highest among all Sweet 16 games at Tipico. 

“Whenever you get a real high total like this, it takes a lot for it to go over,” Pullen said. “It lends itself to people going under just because it’s a high benchmark to make and it’s such an important game. 

“Naturally, tournament games are a little more closer to the vest — a little less loosey goosey (with) a little more pressure. Maybe the shots are a little more tentative. We’ve seen Gonzaga can put up a lot of points and be very explosive, but we’ve also seen them held. Arkansas is a good defensive team (and will) be active and aggressive.” 

Coach K's sentimental spark

The Duke-Texas Tech number flip-flopped at Tipico with the West No. 2 Blue Devils positioned as a -1.5 favorite and the payoff decreased from -110 to -125 against No. 3 Texas Tech (Thursday 9:39 p.m., CBS). 

Many sportsbooks reported great liability connected to the Blue Devils as legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski heads to retirement. 

RELATED: Oddsmakers say men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 is midnight for Cinderella

Top seeds hold steady in remaining odds

Behind Gonzaga-Arkansas, the next-highest total at Tipico is 145.5 for the South region game between No. 1 Arizona and No. 5 Houston (Thursday at 9:59 p.m., TBS). 

Arizona remained a narrow 1.5-point favorite over the Cougars. Similarly, South No. 2 Villanova was unchanged as a 4.5-points favorite over No. 11 Michigan. 

In other Friday games, East No. 3 Purdue has held steady as a -12.5 favorite over this year’s Cinderella, Saint Peter’s (7:09 p.m., CBS), although the total has dipped from an opening 136 to 134.5. Midwest No. 1 Kansas is -7.5 against No. 4 Providence (7:29 p.m., TBS). And No. 4 East seed UCLA is -2.5 against fellow blue blood, No. 8 North Carolina (9:39 p.m., CBS) at a 141.5 total. 

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