Welcome to March Madness! Let's take some time to recap some of the wildness for Day 1 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The day started with three underdogs winning outright with Furman, Maryland and Missouri.
Then, in the next set of games, back-to-back down to the second covers in Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and College of Charleston-San Diego State brought us into the night slate.
And finally, we just witnessed one of the biggest upsets in tourney history, with 15 seed Princeton knocking off Arizona.
12 A.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
First Day Recap:
- Top-8 seeds are 12-4 against the first half spread and favorites are 13-7 against the first half spread so far in March Madness.
- First Half unders went 10-5-1 on Thursday after a 1-3 start in the First Four.
- One of the biggest edges so far? Teams who lead at the half are 13-4-1 against the second half spread in this years tournament and a whopping 91-54-3 against the second half spread since 2020 — profitable now over the last five tournaments.
13  Louisiana (55)4  Tennessee (58) |
+ Tennessee escapes the Round of 64 against Louisiana-Lafayette, but unfortunately for their spread bettors, they failed to cover the number — a theme for Rick Barnes.
Tennessee wins, but doesn't cover.
Rick Barnes is now 19-33 ATS in the NCAA Tournament, including 2-14 ATS in his last 16 tourney games. pic.twitter.com/LuRZdQU0LF
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) March 17, 2023
10 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
10  Boise State (67)7  Northwestern (75) |
+ The Mountain West has struggled mightily in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Mountain West in the First Four & Round 64 since 2012 dance … 7-23 straight up.
And they were listed at +300 or higher on the moneyline just once in that span. pic.twitter.com/pnhk0treul
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) March 17, 2023
9:30 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
Keep Betting The Team Leading
+ Teams leading at the half in the NCAA Tournament are 8-2-1 against the second half spread so far this year and over 62% in the last three seasons, with both Auburn and Duke closing strong to win and cover.
+ Anyone with an under ticket in Auburn-Iowa had a tough second half.
A huge 2nd half for over 151.5 bettors in Iowa-Auburn 🤯 pic.twitter.com/PpgTYIktUG
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 17, 2023
+ From the Auburn POV, they still haven't lost in the Round of 64 in their program history.
Auburn has never lost in the round of 64.
They are now 11-0 SU all-time 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7WbdGvjXua
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 17, 2023
8 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
12  Oral Roberts5 Duke |
+ After Duke's 40-23 cover in the first half, top-8 seeds are now 8-2 against the first half spread and first half unders are 8-2 so far in the Round of 64.
The three games played so far at the Amway Center have all gone under the total in the first half: Virginia-Furman, San Diego State-Charleston, Duke-Oral Roberts.
15  Princeton (59)2  Arizona (55) |
+ The upset of the day is here. 15-seed Princeton, as a 15-point underdog, takes down Arizona.
+ Arizona now becomes the first team since seeding began in 1978 to lose TWICE in the NCAA Tourney as a 15-plus point favorite.
+ Princeton pulled off the 9th-biggest upset in tourney history knocking off the Wildcats in the Round of 64.
+ Underrated betting storyline of Arizona-Princeton? The game went under the total by a whopping 39.5 points (closed 153.5) — the 7th-largest tourney differential to the under since we started tracking NCAA Tournament over/unders back in 1995.
6 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
12  Charleston (57)5  San Diego State (63) |
+ Anyone with a "5.5" ticket just had the sweat of their lives. After a foul was called right at the buzzer (with about a second left) — San Diego State headed to the line for two free throws to bring the lead from four to six.
+ Not to mention, this win gave San Diego State and the Mountain West their first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2018.
A VERY IMPORTANT FOUL 👀
San Diego St. (-5.5) would go on to make both free throws and cover 😅 ✅pic.twitter.com/kQHAlFHCSn
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
Alabama Blows The Cover At The Buzzer
+ The Crimson Tide opened as 22-point favorites against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and ended up closing as high as a 24.5-point favorite. Down 24 with seconds to go, Tide bettors got hit with an awful beat.
🚨 TEXAS A&M CORPUS CHRISTI (+22.5) FOR THE COVERpic.twitter.com/8jVL2OPtr5
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
+ Through the first seven games of March Madness, First Four and Round of 64, the team leading at the half is 6-1 against the second half spread in this year's tournament. The only loss was Virginia.
4 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
10  Utah State (65)7  Missouri (76) |
+ After Missouri knocked off Utah State as an underdog, the first three games of the first day of the Round of 64 cashed on the moneyline for the first time in our Bet Labs database, which goes back to 2005.
+ Can the Mountain West find a win? They are now 0-11 straight up and against the spread since 2018.
❌ Nevada
❌ Utah StateThe Mountain West has now lost 11 consecutive games straight up and against the spread in the NCAA Tournament
(via @Bet_Labs) https://t.co/EmIDQKUgz9
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
3 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
13  Furman4  Virginia |
+ What a start to the day for "Big Bets on Campus" crew, picking Furman to upset Virginia.
FURMAN WINS OUTRIGHT ✅@Stuckey2, @2ndChancePoints, @Ky_3MW, and @matty_cox were all on the Paladins as their Cinderella pick on "Big Bets on Campus" pic.twitter.com/BwwW29euhK
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
+ Virginia does it again. And that's a bad thing.
Tony Bennett is now 7-14 ATS in the NCAA Tournament with Virginia.
Since his first year at Virginia in 2009, he is the 2nd-least profitable coach ATS in the NCAA Tournament via @Bet_Labs
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) March 16, 2023
Virginia is the least profitable team against the spread in the Round of 64 over the last decade 😳 pic.twitter.com/h9aHqulxVq
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
+ At BetMGM today, Furman was the most bet team by tickets and handle. Upset City.
The most bet team by tickets and handle for today’s NCAA Tournament games @BetMGM…
FURMAN (+5.5) ✅ pic.twitter.com/RReZrt1Sek
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
1 P.M. ET Betting Trends, Results
+ Both of the first games of the day went under the total in the first half, continuing this trend of early games going under the total from Bet Labs.
West Virginia-Maryland 1H Under 63.5 ✅
Furman-Virginia 1H Under 59.5 ✅Since 2011, NCAAT games played before 2 PM ET where the first half total is less than 70 are now 57-28-3 (67.1%) to the first half under.
(via @Bet_Labs) https://t.co/SuzuzioI7vpic.twitter.com/krqcSQvsyP
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 16, 2023
Keep checking back throughout the day and all 2023 NCAA Tournament long for more betting trends, results, notes, data and more — everything you need to be the smartest college basketball fan you can be all March Madness!
