March Madness Betting: Virginia, Michigan State Headline the Midwest Odds

It may have been a bit of a surprise to see the Michigan State Spartans (29-5) as the second seed in the Midwest Region of the 2016 NCAA tournament, but that has not kept them from being the favorites to advance to the Final Four at +160 betting odds (bet $100 to win $160) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers (26-7) are Michigan State’s top competition in the Midwest, with a +210 price. However, the Spartans eliminated the Cavaliers in the Big Dance each of the past two years, including 2014 when UVA was the top seed in the East.

Virginia was the most controversial pick as a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday after falling to the North Carolina Tar Heels 61-57 in the ACC tournament championship game. Many viewed Michigan State as more deserving, and head coach Tom Izzo's squad enters the NCAA tournament on a nine-game winning streak, with the team’s only loss in its last 14 games coming on the road against the Purdue Boilermakers (26-8).

The Spartans avenged their last defeat by beating Purdue 66-62 in the Big Ten tournament championship game. They are 12-2 against the spread during that stretch, according to the Odds Shark College Basketball Database.

The fifth-seeded Boilermakers are the third choice to win the Midwest at +600, followed by the fourth-seeded Iowa State Cyclones (21-11) at +750 out of the Big 12.

The third-seeded Utah Utes (26-8) finished second in the Pac-12 during the regular season and lost to the Oregon Ducks in the championship game, which put them at +900 to win the Midwest. The Ducks dominated the Utes 88-57 to earn the top seed in the West.

Some long shots to win the Midwest include the 11th-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-7) at +1400, the seventh-seeded Dayton Flyers (25-7) at +1800, the ninth-seeded Butler Bulldogs at [phone]) and the sixth-seeded Seton Hall Pirates (25-8) at +2000.

Gonzaga (West Coast) and Seton Hall (Big East) both won their conference tournaments to receive automatic bids to March Madness, while Dayton (Atlantic 10) and Butler (Big East) got in as at-large teams.

The Flyers have a first-round matchup with the 10th-seeded Syracuse Orange (19-13), and Dayton upset them two years ago in the round of 32 as a No. 11 seed. The Orange were one of the last teams in and are +2500 to win the region.