March Madness: NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Betting Trends Breakdown

While every fan and bettor should already know that a top seed has never lost to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament and a No. 12 seed seemingly upsets a No. 5 seed every year, there are tons more key college basketball trends you need to know about in order to handicap the games and win your wagers during the round of 64.

So many brackets end up getting busted in March Madness because the teams only care about their opponents, not the seeding of their matchup. And oddsmakers feel the same way.

With that said, did you know the ninth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers have won 12 straight games in the round of 64 heading into Thursday’s Midwest Region game versus the eighth-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats in Louisville, Kentucky?

The Boilermakers are 9-3 against the spread in those games as well, and some sportsbooks had the Bearcats favored early before money came in on the Purdue side. It’s hard to ignore those trends.

In addition, many teams in the NCAA tournament field have thrived as underdogs this season and find themselves in that role again as they try to move on to the next round. The 14th-seeded UAB Blazers are one of them and have won five of their past six straight-up as an underdog while covering the spread in their past eight as a dog. The Blazers meet the third-seeded Iowa State Cyclones in a South Region matchup on Thursday.

Another No. 14 seed—the Northeastern Huskies—may not have much of a chance to beat the third-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Thursday in Pittsburgh. However, the Huskies have gone 8-1 against the spread in their last nine as double-digit dogs, and the Fighting Irish have struggled with a 1-8 ATS mark in their previous nine tourney games.

Other schools that have performed well recently as dogs include the ninth-seeded LSU Tigers (7-1 ATS this season) against the eighth-seeded North Carolina State Wolfpack and the 11th-seeded UCLA Bruins (covered their last five in this situation) facing the sixth-seeded SMU Mustangs.

Keep in mind, most feel the Bruins do not even belong in the 68-team field, and teams like that enjoy proving doubters wrong by sticking around.

All odds via Odds Shark.