NCAA Tournament: Vegas’ odds for Duke, Virginia, UNC & the field of 68

Duke enters 2019 NCAA Tournament as biggest betting favorite since Kentucky in 2015

The 2019 NCAA Tournament bracket was released on Sunday night, unveiling the 68 teams that made it into the field, their respective seeds and the path necessary to reach the Final Four in Minneapolis.

Shortly after, Las Vegas sportsbooks gave fans and gamblers alike the first look at the favorites in this year’s tournament; a list that’s headlined by three Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

Those teams, Duke, Virginia and North Carolina, are the top three overall seeds in this year’s bracket, as well as finishing first, second and third in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll that was released on Monday.

The Blue Devils will earn betters the smallest amount of return on their investment this March, coming in as a 2-to-1 favorite to win the tournament, which ends with the National Championship game on April 8. Duke is the heaviest favorite for the tournament since the Kentucky Wildcats in 2015 — a tournament that the Blue Devils won after Kentucky was upset by Wisconsin in the Final Four.

The Virginia Cavaliers are next with 6-to-1 odds to capture the title after winning 29 games and a share of the ACC regular season crown. Last year, the Cavaliers became the first ever 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed, single-handedly wrecking sportsbooks and tournament brackets across the nation.

ACC co-champion North Carolina and West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga are tied for third, as the 2017 NCAA title game participants share 8-to-1 odds to cut the nets down early next month.

A pair of SEC programs, Kentucky and Tennessee, have 10-to-1 and 12-to-1 odds, respectively. Second-seeded Michigan State has 15-to-1 odds to win the tourney, while in-state rival Michigan and Big 12 co-champion Texas Tech are set at 25-to-1.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and everything North Carolina basketball.