Sportsbooks Glad to Have Duke in March Madness Odds

March Madness odds for this year’s Final Four 2010 include Duke and sportsbooks are very happy about that. Whenever a marquee team is involved in the Final Four it increases the interest in March Madness betting.

March Madness odds list Duke as the favorite to win the Final Four 2010. The Blue Devils are favored in the Final Four against West Virginia and they would be favored in the title game against either Butler or Michigan State.  Action in Duke is always higher than on some other teams because the Blue Devils are a marquee team.  Duke is also a top seed and whenever a #1 seed is in the Final Four it is good news for the sportsbooks and it is also good news for CBS who televises the tournament.  The Final Four needed a big name team like Duke to go along with two #5 seeds and a #2 seed in March Madness betting.

There are not that many big name teams in sports.  The Yankees and Red Sox are the two in baseball. The Lakers and Celtics are the big names in the NBA while the NFL doesn’t need big names it is so big. College basketball has North Carolina, Kentucky and Duke.  Fans either love Duke or they hate them.  And there are probably more people out there that don’t like Duke. What can’t be debated is that when Duke is involved in the Final Four teams it is more popular in March Madness odds.  Cinderella stories are great but the power teams draw the interest and the ratings.  When George Mason made the Final Four in 2006 it was one of the least watched games on CBS.  The title game that year had Florida and UCLA and it was the lowest rated title game on CBS since 1975.

College basketball, CBS and the sportsbooks need Duke in the Final Four teams.  Would the interest on Baylor and West Virginia been very high in March Madness odds?  The answer is obviously no.  The interest in Duke vs. West Virginia though is high. Butler is a nice story and Michigan State has Tom Izzo but Duke is now the lead dog in this year’s Final Four 2010.  It doesn’t hurt that Duke is the last remaining number one seed and there are going to be some brackets in March Madness odds that have Duke winning it all. There may be a few that picked West Virginia or Michigan State but Duke will have the rooting interest of those that picked them to win the title before the NCAA Tournament began.

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