They say if you want to know how people really feel about something, follow the money. If that’s right, Hoosier basketball fans may have another reason to feel optimistic about the 2018-19 season.
Sports betting website Bovada released updated odds for the 2019 NCAA Tournament on Friday. On April 3 the Hoosiers were “Off the Board” according to the betting service, likely because there were too many unknowns. Today, the odds on IU winning a national championship are 40-1.
While those may sound like long odds, and they are, 40-1 is good for a tie for 16th nationally. That’s a significant improvement over last years 16-15 season that saw IU miss the postseason. It also reflects a big jump when compared to recent Top 25 polls. The best ranking that we’ve noted for Indiana is a recent CBS poll that had the Hoosiers at 25th.
The recent spike in optimism surrounding Indiana is almost certainly attributable to two things. First, the April 30th announcement by five-star recruit Romeo Langford that he was committing to IU, and the announcement this week by 2nd team All-Big Ten forward Juwan Morgan that he was returning to play his senior season.
As we suggested recently, those two factors, along with a deep and talented complimentary roster has Indiana primed for a big season.
Here are the 25 teams with the best odds of winning the tournament, according to Bovada:
1. Duke (11-2)
2. Kansas (8-1)
3. Villanova (9-1)
T4. Gonzaga (10-1)
T4. Kentucky (10-1)
6. North Carolina (12-1)
7. Virginia (15-1)
8. Nevada (22-1)
9. Michigan State (25-1)
10. Michigan (25-1)
11. Tennessee (28-1)
12. Auburn (30-1)
13. Virginia Tech (30-1)
14. Oregon (33-1)
15. West Virginia (35-1)
T16. UCLA (40-1)
T16. Indiana (40-1)
T18. Florida (50-1)
T18. Purdue (50-1)
T18. Syracuse (50-1)
T18. Texas Tech (50-1)
T18. Wichita State (50-1)
23. Cincinnati (65-1)
Five teams tied with 70-1 odds: Arizona State, Clemson, Maryland, Miami (FL), NC State
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