With the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, college basketball fans are going to be chomping at the bit to get back to gambling on March Madness next spring. Typically, the American betting public will bet in the neighborhood of $8.5 billion dollars during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The allure of betting on March Madness is always going to be there even with the cancellation of this year’s event as it’s the one sporting event outside of the Super Bowl that brings people together in offices through pools, alums from participating teams, and the casual non-sports fan that always seems to find a way to win the office pool. In addition, with the growth of sports betting online in nj and other, it is now easier than ever to bet on college basketball for fans in the state and the rest of the country.
Here is a quick look at some of the favorites to win it all during the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Gonzaga is arguably the frontrunner as they will be coming off a 29-2 season where they spent plenty of time as the number one team in all of the land. Filip Petrusev led the Bulldogs in scoring at 17.5 points per game and in rebounding at 7.9. Corey Kispert will be back as well and is an excellent perimeter shooter as he knocked down 43.8 percent of shots from behind the three-point arc. Gonzaga will also get a nice infusion talent from an incoming freshman class that includes McDonald’s All-Americans Dominick Harris, Julian Strawther, and Jalen Suggs. The Bulldogs are a bonafide blue blood that will be a threat to win it all for the foreseeable future under the direction of head coach Mark Few.
Kansas was the frontrunner heading into the 2020 NCAA Tournament as they had outlasted Baylor in the race to win the Big 12 conference. The 2021 version of the Jayhawks will require some reloading in key spots as they will more than likely have to replace Devon Dotson, Ochai Agbaji, and Silvio DeSousa as they are expected to head off to the NBA Draft. Bryce Thompson is a five-star recruit that will come in and do a little of everything as a combo guard that will be expected to contribute right away and provide some instant offense for Kansas.
Virginia had a strong finish to the season as they went 11-1 in their final 12 games. The Cavaliers are always going to be elite defensively and will get some additional offensive production from Marquette transfer Sam Hauser and incoming freshman Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who should be able to seamlessly replace Braxton Key. Hauser averaged just under 15 points per game for the Golden Eagles during the 2018-19 season and will make the Virginia offense better once he is eligible to play during the 2020-21 season.
Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, and Florida State should be teams that will be in the Elite Eight/Final Four conversation as all four programs are always very dangerous in a one game situation during the NCAA Tournament. The coaching experience between John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Mike Krzyzewski, and Leonard Hamilton is tough to beat as all four guys have been proven winners throughout their careers.
Bottom line, the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament should end up being highly competitive as you won’t be able to count teams like Dayton and San Diego State, who will be interesting teams to watch with odds of winning it all hovering around 25/1. In the end, the likely national champion in 2021 should come from one of the projected top eight or so favorites from the majority of the sports gambling sites throughout the United States.
