It's a mild Cinderella, but a Cinderella nonetheless. San Diego State pushed the pedal in a relentless second half comeback that ended with a buzzer beater victory on Saturday night.
Lamont Butler sunk a jumper as time expired to send the Aztecs to their first-ever national championship game.
And while San Diego State had been a popular pick to advance to the national championship, they assuredly weren't in the leadup to the tournament.
San Diego State Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament
Preseason: +6000
January 3: +7000
Post-Bracket Reveal: +8500
After Round of 32: +3800
After Sweet 16: +900
After Elite Eight: +380 (via FanDuel)
San Diego State had been a relatively small liability across sportsbooks, though. But one bettor did put down $15,000 that could win $157,500 on San Diego State to win it all if he or she went through the tournament without hedging.
That +950 wager was placed on March 26 — before the Aztecs took on Creighton in the Elite Eight.
It's not clear as of publish who the bettor is and whether he or she has hedged at all.
This person has the opportunity to hedge for a guaranteed profit. For instance, if Miami is San Diego State's opponent for the national championship game, our Sean Koerner projects fair odds to be San Diego State +100 and Miami +100.
At +100, the bettor could place $78,750 on Miami's moneyline to guarantee a profit of $63,750 no matter the result of the game.
Play around with the Action Network's hedge calculator here to toggle different strata of hedges.
Should UConn prevail later tonight, Koerner projects a national championship game with the Huskies as -203 favorites and the Aztecs at +203.
At -203, this bettor's perfect hedge would require a $105,519.80 wager on UConn to win a guaranteed profit of $36,980.20
