April 3, 2015
Each year the NCAA Tournament is one of the most exciting times on the sports calendar. Throughout the tournament, the amount of upsets in the early rounds make the games incredibly entertaining for the audience both in attendance and watching on television. As the tournament gets to the later rounds upsets are much less likely and when there is one alpha team, the results can sometimes appear predetermined. That’s close to where Kentucky is for the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky is entering the Final Four with a record of 38-0, looking to become the first team in 39 years to finish a college basketball season is undefeated. That type of unrivaled dominance makes the Wildcats a clear favorite to be cutting down the nets on Monday night. Las Vegas agrees, as Kentucky is listed as the most likely tournament champion by a wide margin.
The Wildcats are listed as (-150) favorites to win the 2015 NCAA Championship. They are the only team needed to give money to place a bet. Odds of (-150) means a bet of $150 would need to be placed to win $100. The Duke Blue Devils have the second best odds at (+325). Even though they are playing Kentucky, the Wisconsin Badgers have the third best odds at (+375). Michigan State will take on Duke in the Final Four and are far and away the underdog at (+800) odds.
[embedit cf="HTML1"]
For the championship game, it is no surprise the favorite matchup is Kentucky against Duke. Although Michigan State is the fourth most likely to win, a championship matchup against Kentucky is the second most likely title game due to Kentucky’s involvement. However, a Duke vs Wisconsin championship game has the same odds as Kentucky-Michigan State. Predictably the most unlikely title game on Monday would be between Wisconsin and Michigan State at (+700) odds.
Prices for Final Four tickets to see these games at Lucas Oil Stadium are still expensive, but have dropped in price over the last week. While the aura of Kentucky had been driving up prices, the seeming inevitability of its win could also be negatively impacting these prices at the last minute. The current average price for Final Four tickets is $846.37, 22% below the peak price on Monday morning. Championship game tickets have also dropped, now at an average price of $618.31. That is down 18% from the $754.95 average following the conclusion of the Elite Eight.
