Yahoo Finance NCAA March Madness betting: BetMGM takes biggest bet on tourney, Oral Roberts fans won't like it
Cinderella stories are great for the NCAA men's tournament, but bettors aren't moved by sappy narratives.
Oral Roberts pulled off one of the great upsets in first-round NCAA men's tournament history, knocking off Ohio State as a +1000 moneyline underdog at BetMGM. The Golden Eagles are the ninth No. 15 seed to win a game in the tournament.
At least one bettor isn't here for another clip in "One Shining Moment." BetMGM took its biggest bet of the tournament to date, on Florida -8 over Oral Roberts in a Sunday matchup. That bettor wagered $224,000 to win $204,000.
The history of 15 seeds in the second round isn't great. The only 15 seed to win two tournament games was Florida Gulf Coast in 2013. However, Oral Roberts did play top competition well in the regular season. ORU played five tournament teams (Missouri, Wichita State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Arkansas), and Missouri was the only one to win by more than 14. Then obviously the Golden Eagles beat one of the best teams in college basketball on Friday.
Florida will have more talent and it's not surprising the Gators are the second-biggest favorite for Sunday's games at BetMGM (Houston is a nine-point favorite over Rutgers).
Oral Roberts became the highlight of the first week of the NCAA tournament with a historic upset. Many bettors did have Oral Roberts, who moved from a 17-point underdog all the way down to +15 before tipoff. At least one big bettor isn't moved.
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