Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Gaming:

Las Vegas sports books make Connecticut solid favorite in national championship

UConn is favored by about four points over Butler with an over/under of 129 points

Butler

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Butler Blue II sits courtside before a men’s NCAA Final Four semifinal college basketball game between Butler and Virginia Commonwealth Saturday, April 2, 2011, in Houston.

Butler will attempt to become only the fourth Las Vegas underdog in the last 12 years to win the NCAA Tournament when it meets Connecticut Monday night in Houston.

Most Las Vegas sports books have posted UConn as a 3.5- or 4-point favorite over Butler after the two teams won their national semifinal matchups Saturday. No. 8 seed Butler took down No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth 70-62, while No. 3 seed UConn eked out a 56-55 victory over No. 4 seed Kentucky.

Although underdogs haven’t fared well recently in the national championship game, some think Butler has what it takes to usher in a new era of college basketball.

“Butler shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone,” said Jay Rood, MGM Resorts International sports book director, before Saturday’s Final Four games. “They’ve maybe pulled a couple of upsets, but they have the right mentality.”

“With these small schools, these kids have been there for a long time. These kids stay until they’re juniors and seniors. That’s why you’ve seen them make a run.”

Butler’s four leaders in minutes played are all upperclassmen. Forward Matt Howard and guard Shawn Vanzant are seniors, while guards Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored are juniors.

Comparatively, only one of UConn’s top six players is an upperclassman. But that’s junior guard Kemba Walker, a name that resonates most with bettors.

Walker has averaged 25 points per game as the Huskies have blown through the Big East and NCAA tournaments on a 10-game winning streak.

“People took notice of them after the Big East Conference Tournament,” Rood said.

Title game history sides with the Huskies. In the last seven years, the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks are the only underdogs to win outright in the national championship when they beat 2.5-point favorite Memphis 75-68. The two other teams to accomplish the feat since the turn of the century were the 2003 Syracuse Orange and the 2001 Duke Blue Devils.

Favorites have gone 7-4 against the spread in that span, but Butler did cover as a 7-point underdog in last year’s 61-59 loss to Duke.

“There’s something to be said for that,” Rood said of Butler’s run through last year’s NCAA Tournament. “They are experienced and know what’s going on.”

The over/under for the national championship game is set at 129 points. In the last 10 years, exactly five of the games have gone "over" and five have gone "under."

Both of Saturday’s Final Four contests went "under" the total, while Butler covered as a 3-point favorite and Connecticut upset Kentucky as a 2-point underdog.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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