Sportsbooks win via UNC loss: ‘It felt like nothing had gone our way until now’

The second round in the March Madness odds market was a runaway success for the public betting masses, as favorites won 15 of 16 games. 

But that didn’t carry over to Sweet 16 odds, with the first No. 1 seed bowing out Thursday night. 

In the wake of North Carolina’s 89-87 loss to Alabama, oddsmakers couldn’t have been happier to see the trend reversed. 

“That was huge. It almost made us forget about what happened last weekend. Almost,” BetMGM Nevada’s Scott Shelton said. 

Shelton and a couple of his oddsmaking peers chimed in on one of the bigger results so far in March Madness betting. 

Roll Tide 

At sportsbooks across Las Vegas and across the country, bettors were all over North Carolina on Thursday night. BetMGM, Fanatics Sportsbook, The SuperBook, DraftKings and more reported overwhelming Tar Heels play, on the -4.5 spread and in the -200 range on the moneyline. 

Furthermore, Carolina is always a popular play on the March Madness championship oddsboard. So, when No. 4 seed Alabama ended No. 1 seed UNC’s season in the Sweet 16, the impact was significant. 

“Both in the game and in the futures book, we had massive liability on UNC,” Shelton said of BetMGM’s position to the Tar Heels in the Las Vegas market. “It was by far the biggest win tonight and possibly the entire Sweet 16. We unloaded our biggest liability left to win it all.” 

Big Bounce-back 

In the Round of 32, favorites went 15-1 straight up (SU) and a solid 11-5 against the spread (ATS), leading to a money-making weekend for the bettors. North Carolina was part of that spree, closing as a 4-point favorite vs. Michigan State and rolling to an 85-69 victory. 

On Thursday night, multiple oddsmakers noted Carolina was on everyone’s moneyline parlay tickets. Those torn-up tickets were as important or more so than all the standard straight bets that went begging. 

“It’s the best result of the tournament by far. It felt like nothing had gone our way until now,” said Zachary Lucas, director of retail sports for TwinSpires Sportsbook. “The majority of parlays this round had North Carolina moneyline in them. And the Tar Heels were our second-biggest [championship] futures liability.” 

Ask And Ye Shall Receive 

John Murray, executive director of The SuperBook, was hoping Thursday night would bring a change of pace in the favorite-heavy NCAA Tournament odds market. Particularly in the West Region, as prior to Thursday’s games, he said: 

“We’re looking for Clemson and more so Alabama,” Murray said. 

The SuperBook got Clemson, a 6.5-point underdog that knocked out No. 2 seed Arizona 77-72. That probably would’ve been enough to satisfy Murray and the risk room. But Alabama took it a step further with the upset of Carolina. 

“Results of the West Regional were very positive for us. It’s good to see the ‘dogs finally barking,” Murray said. 

Follow along with FOX Sports for the latest news on March Madness!

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas. 

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