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All in all the VCU vs. Butler spread action was relatively balanced with the Bulldogs getting 60 percent at BetUS.com nearly 24 hours before tip off. Butler was getting more wagering action than any other team in any other sport heading into the weekend. Butler is a -2.5 favorite.
“This is one of the most anticipated college basketball games ever with a Cinderella team guaranteed to go to the final on Monday,” noted Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.
While having a number 8 seed getting the opportunity to make the final might provide enough excitement in any given year, enter Virginia Commonwealth University, which has never been in a Final Four. The number 11-seeded team was actually part of the inaugural First Four and had 150/1 odds of winning the Southwest Region while at least one lucky gambler stands to walk off with $50,000 for betting $10 in Vegas should the Rams go all the way.
VCU provided the gambling world with one of the biggest upsets ever recorded last week after an improbable win over number one-seeded Kansas.
“We knew Kansas was going to make a run in the second half, but we never gave up the lead, and our guys kept fighting,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said after the historic upset.
VCU (28-11) became the first team to win five games, a result of being part of the newly incorporated First Four.
“I can say with complete comfort that nobody had a perfect bracket this year,” joked Shapiro, pointing out that Butler was another Cinderella team entering the Final Four.
“We got prepared well by Coach. He prepared us really well, and we just went out there and executed what he told us to do,” said Jamie Skeen, who led the Rams with a career-high 26 points.
Meanwhile, the Butler Bulldogs have become “America’s Team”, hence the reason they are getting such significant betting action. They managed to knock off mighty Florida, a number two seed, last Saturday. It is their second consecutive year in the Final Four.
Butler is the first team from outside the six power conferences to reach consecutive Final Fours since UNLV in 1990-91. Butler is also the first team to reach consecutive Final Fours and not be seeded first or second in either appearance. They are 9-1 in their past 10 tournament games.
"We just kind of stayed together, stayed the course, figured it out, and just played resiliently," Butler coach Brad Stevens said after the game. "I'm incredibly proud of these guys. They carried their coach in a big way. ... Our players did a great job, and [they are] just a special group. We're really lucky that they're Butler Bulldogs."
And they will have their prized mascot on hand after some controversy surrounding the NCAA’s prohibition of live animals during the first round of the tournament. Blue II boarded a chartered flight to Houston Friday. Life is good for winning College Basketball teams, even when you are the mascot it seems.
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
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