Friday's VCU-UCF NCAA Tournament Round of 64 matchup is not only interesting for those filling out March Madness brackets, but it's also attracting plenty of activity from college basketball bettors.
In fact, professional bettors — also known as "sharps" — keyed in on this game in the 12 hours following the release of the 2019 NCAA Tournament bracket.
However, since the early line movement, smart money has started hitting the opposite side of this matchup, moving the point spread once again and revealing how professional bettors see this game playing out.
Let's break down the action.
VCU-UCF Sharp Action
Oddsmakers initially opened this line as a pick'em, and bettors quickly moved VCU to a 1-point favorite. But starting Monday afternoon, UCF money began to hit the market, flipping the Knights to -1. The spread even touched -1.5 Tuesday afternoon before settling back in at the current number.
The Action Network's public betting data is reporting balanced action with 55% of spread tickets taking UCF and 52% of dollars on VCU, but Sports Insights' Bet Signals provide insight into why the Knights are now favored.
Early Monday afternoon, professionals steamed UCF at +1, then again while the spread was a pick'em. Steam refers to instances in which sharps bet the same side of one game at multiple sportsbooks, all at once. This sudden influx of money from respected bettors forces oddsmakers to react by adjusting lines across the board.
In this instance, the overload of smart money on the Knights at +1 and at a pick'em drove the line to -1.
There's still more than 48 hours until this game tips off, so be sure to download The Action Network's mobile app to track live odds and betting percentage updates for VCU-UCF, as well as every NCAA Tournament matchup.
