March Madness officially kicks off with a play-in game tonight at 6:40 p.m. ET: Wagner vs. Howard for the right to play North Carolina in the Round of 64.
But if you're in New York and looking to wager on this game — good luck. You won't be able to. That's because New York bans wagers on in-state colleges.
Wagner is located from Staten Island and made the tournament by virtue of winning the Northeast Conference tournament as the No. 6 seed despite having a losing record in-conference.
Howard, meanwhile, upset No. 1 seeded Norfolk State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament en route to its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Their last March Madness dance had been in 1992.
Naturally, these are the two worst teams in the tournament, according to KenPom. Wagner is ranked No. 293 in the country according to the advanced metric while Howard are No. 276.
For context, an Old Dominion team that went 7-25 is ranked higher than Wagner on KenPom's scale.
Still, it's a tournament game with all of the trappings of such. If you want to bet on this game and are lucky enough to not be in New York, the best market price for Howard's moneyline is at Circa at -155. Circa is available in Nevada and Colorado.
The best price for Wagner's moneyline is available at ESPN BET or Fanatics Sportsbook, which both price the team from Staten Island at +140.
