Yahoo Finance NCAA March Madness betting: $300K bet comes in on Houston despite Oregon State ATS hot streak
Oregon State has been on an unbelievable run against the spread, but one bettor at BetMGM thinks that will end on Monday night in the Elite Eight against Houston.
Oregon State is 22-9-1 against the spread this season with a remarkable 18-3-1 ATS mark since Jan. 16. As an underdog, the Beavers are 16-5 ATS. Oregon State is once again an underdog on Monday night, currently listed as an eight-point underdog at BetMGM.
Despite Oregon State covering the spread at a 76% clip as an underdog, this bettor put down a huge wager on Houston.
The bet is $306,000 on Houston -7. The bettor bought a half-point to take UH at -7 with -120 odds, so the bet would win $255,000.
Houston is coming off a strong performance in the Sweet 16 in which it knocked off Syracuse 62-46 as a 6.5-point favorite. The Cougars have covered the spread in two of their three NCAA men's tournament games. They covered 20.5 in Round 1 vs. Cleveland State, but failed to cover in the second round against Rutgers. UH was favored by 7.5, but needed a late rally to get past the Scarlet Knights, 63-60, and advance to the Sweet 16. Houston is 20-9 against the spread this season.
Oregon State wouldn’t have reached the NCAA men's tournament without winning the Pac-12 tournament. The Beavers beat UCLA, Oregon and Colorado to win the conference tournament crown, winning outright as an underdog in each of those games. That continued in the NCAA men's tournament. OSU was an 8.5-point underdog in the first round vs. Tennessee, a six-point underdog in the second round against Oklahoma State and a seven-point underdog against Loyola Chicago in the Sweet 16.
In Monday night’s matchup, most bettors are backing Oregon State at BetMGM. As of Monday morning, 73% of the bets and 72% of the money has come in on the OSU side.
The splits are much closer with the total. The percentage of tickets is 50-50 with 56% of the money on the under. The total opened at 130.5 but has ticked down to 129.
For both Oregon State and Houston, two of their three NCAA men's tournament games have finished under the total.
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