UCLA serves as biggest threat to sports books in the NCAA Tournament

Mesmerized by Lonzo Ball, bettors continue to back the Bruins

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball slaps hands as he walks to the locker room after UCLA beat Cincinnati 79-67 in a second-round game of the men’s NCAA college basketball tournament in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, March 19, 2017.

Tue, Mar 21, 2017 (2 a.m.)

No one loved how a glut of teams emerged as contenders in college basketball this season more than local bookmakers.

Because bettors considered so many different teams viable options to win the national championship, their money in the futures market was spread out to help limit the house’s overall liability. There was one golden (and blue) exception.

“UCLA is the only team that could hurt us at all,” William Hill Director of Trading Nick Bogdanovich said. “There are some other teams that wouldn’t be great, but they’re the one we’re looking to avoid.”

The marathon first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, which was by all accounts a massive success for casinos otherwise, ended on somewhat of a foreboding note. UCLA cruised past Cincinnati 79-67 as 4-point favorites in the final round of 32 game, cashing for the scores of bettors who backed them in the game — 88 percent of the money at William Hill was on the Bruins — while keeping even more future bets alive.

William Hill has taken more bets on UCLA to win the national championship than any other team dating back to last year, when it was as high as 75-to-1.

At other shops, including Station Casinos, UCLA opened at 100-to-1.

“We’re looking for them to not win it all,” Red Rock Resort sports book director Jason McCormick said. “Those odds were lowered very, very quickly, so it’s not that bad but they’re not a good result for us.”

No matter how quickly or drastically books moved the odds, though, money continued to come on UCLA — and not only in the futures market. The Bruins have been similarly supported on the point spread, and sure enough, they attracted the first wave of money in a Sweet 16 matchup against Kentucky Friday in Memphis.

The South Region semifinal opened as a pick’em, but UCLA shot up to a 1-point favorite in short order.

William Hill now offers the Bruins at plus-650 (risking $1 to win $6.50) to win the title, the fourth lowest odds behind North Carolina at 4-to-1, and Arizona and Kansas at plus-450.

If there’s one championship game that wouldn’t set up well for casinos, it’s an all West Coast affair with No. 1 seed Gonzaga — currently 7-to-1 to win the title — and UCLA. Gonzaga was also as high as 100-to-1 around town before the season, meaning tickets on the Bulldogs with high payouts are in circulation.

There are just far fewer Gonzaga bets.

“No one really caught onto them as fast,” McCormick said.

Gonzaga’s influx of eligible transfers like former Washington point guard and Findlay Prep star Nigel Williams-Goss and former California sharpshooter Jordan Matthews didn’t draw the fanfare of UCLA’s pair of McDonald’s All Americans in Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf.

Once the season started, the Bulldogs’ relatively restrained style resonated less with bettors in comparison to UCLA’s freewheeling tendencies.

“I don’t know of a more fun basketball team to watch when we’re clicking,” UCLA coach Steve Alford told the Associated Press after the victory over Cincinnati.

Alford’s story checked out over the first weekend of the tournament in Las Vegas. Roars ripped through sports books as Ball made 13 of his 20 field goal attempts and led the Bruins to a pair of easy victories.

The only silence emanated from behind the betting counter.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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