March Madness: Arkansas, Princeton Punch Tickets To Sweet 16
The 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has been wild, and the madness continued Saturday.
The Purdue Boilermakers were the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated after losing to the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, and the Kansas Jayhawks joined them.
The Arkansas Razorbacks beat the defending men’s national champion, 72-71, and head coach Eric Musselman joined in on the celebratory upset in a way befitting of March Madness.
The Jayhawks were a popular pick to make the Final Four with 40% of users on ESPN’s Men’s Tournament Challenge picking Kansas to go that far. Arkansas was chosen by a majority to make it to the second round but only 11% of people backed an upset.
Kansas was the third-most bet team to win the national title with +1200 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, according to communications associate Cassie Buontempo. It also was the second-most bet team to win the West region.
The Jayhawks’ elimination was a win for BetMGM as they represented the second-most liability at the sportsbook, according to data specialist Drew O’Dell. Kansas covering as 3.5-point favorites was the second-most bet team Saturday, and the only win was the game’s total going over 142.5.
But a person on DraftKings bet $1,222 on Arkansas moneyline at +160, which paid out $3,177.20.
Princeton continued its Cinderella run with a 78-63 win over the Missouri in a battle of the Tigers. The former was +240 on the moneyline at Westgate Superbook, so a $100 bet would have paid out $340. The public generally was on the Tigers to cover the spread as a consensus 6-point underdog, but they went beyond that with a convincing win over Missouri.
Princeton will move on to the Sweet 16, where they will play the winner of Sunday’s Creighton Bluejays-Baylor Bears matchup. Arkansas moves on to play the winner of Sunday’s Saint Mary’s Gaels-UConn Huskies matchup.
Congrats to those who somehow still are alive in their bracket pools
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