With 48 games spread across four days, bettors were plenty enthused to jump on 2026 March Madness odds.
So there were plenty of notable winners.
Among the largest: A Fanatics Sportsbook customer who banked more than $300,000 on a five-leg parlay.
More on that winning wager, a banger of a buzzer-beater, other notable parlays, major wagers and more as we recap betting on NCAA Tournament odds.
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Five Alive
Betting $5,000 on a parlay isn’t a highly recommended activity. But at least the Fanatics customer didn’t try to string together 10 or 15 outcomes.
Rather, it was a relatively reasonable five-leg parlay, tying together five first-round games across Thursday and Friday. The ticket had two moneyline plays — meaning that team just had to win the game — and three plays against the spread.
Odds on that ticket were +3421, or about 34/1. But the customer utilized a profit boost to ostensibly double the odds to +6546.
The bettor got a great sweat out of the first two games. VCU trailed North Carolina by 19 points with 15 minutes remaining, but rallied to tie it at 75 and force overtime.
The Rams went on to an 82-78 victory.
TCU moneyline was tight, as well, with the Horned Frogs beating Ohio State 66-64 on a layup with four seconds remaining.
Texas Tech and Tennessee were no sweat, with the Red Raiders rolling 91-71 over Akron, and the Vols dumping Miami-Ohio 78-56.
Iowa capped it off with a 67-61 win to cover as a 2-point favorite.
And with that, $5,000 turned into a whopping $327,300 profit, for a total payout of $332,300.
Buzzer Beater
DraftKings Sportsbook offered an interesting prop bet on March Madness odds: Will there be a buzzer beater, with the lead changing hands as time expires?
One bettor put $500 on the prop, at +1000 odds (10/1). And on Sunday, St. John’s made it pay in a thriller against Kansas.
The Red Storm blew a 14-point second-half lead, and the game was tied at 65 in the waning seconds. Dylan Darling then drove for a layup at the buzzer, giving St. John’s a 67-65 win.
So that $500 bet turned into $5,000 profit (total payout $5,500). It’s not a life-changing six-figure win, but it’s pretty good ROI, to be sure.
Biggest Loser
It’s always helpful to remind yourself that sports betting is a form of gambling. The house almost always has an edge. You’re generally going to lose more often than you win.
Even if you’re getting a ton of points.
Such was the case for a Hard Rock Bet customer in Friday’s game between No. 1 seed Florida and No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M.
The bettor put $110,000 on Prairie View +35.5. All the Panthers had to do was stay within 35 points, and the wager would profit $100,000.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Prairie View trailed 60-21 at halftime en route to a 114-55 loss, 24 points short of covering the big number.
So that’s a six-figure donation to the house.
Parlay Partay
If you feel compelled to put a ridiculous number of legs on a parlay bet, then at least feel equally compelled to not wager much money on it.
A Fanatics customer understood the assignment. The bettor put all of $3.42 on a 22-leg parlay, mixing in a handful of NBA player props with a bundle of NCAA Tournament first-round games.
The final leg was Saturday’s second-round game: Michigan State moneyline vs. Louisville.
As you can see, the bettor didn’t take a single underdog and, in many cases, utilized alternate point spreads to make the selections not just favorites, but sizable favorites.
Even with that strategy, though, it’s quite a chore to get 22 legs across the finish line. Michigan State finished it off by beating Louisville 77-69.
At odds of +301141 — in easier-to-digest terms, just beyond 3011/1 — that three dollars and change became a hefty $10,302.
Also at Fanatics, a customer put $100 on an eight-leg parlay, mixing in a few point spreads with Utah State moneyline vs. Villanova and Iowa-Clemson Under 131 points.
Utah State trailed by 10 early in the second half, but closed that gap with a 14-4 run to tie Villanova at 54 with 14 minutes left. And the Aggies finished the game with a 15-3 run to win 86-76.
The Iowa-Clemson Under barely got there, with Iowa winning 67-61 (128 points).
At odds of +16623 (about 166/1), the bettor’s $100 investment became $16,723.
Bet a Lot, Win a Little
A few bettors made the move of taking massive moneyline favorites in first-round games. The idea behind such a bet: It’s a lead-pipe cinch that, say, a No. 1 seed is going to handily beat a No. 16 seed.
A DraftKings customer nearly found out that it’s not quite that easy. The bettor put $50,000 on Duke moneyline -20000 to beat Siena on Thursday.
To clarify: At those odds, it takes a $200 bet to win $1. So the $50,000 play would win just $250.
And the Blue Devils barely got there. Shockingly, Siena led 43-32 at halftime. Duke ultimately chipped away to escape with a 71-65 victory.
Two similar wagers went more according to plan for DK customers. The first was a $180,000 bet on St. John’s moneyline -600 vs. Northern Iowa.
The Red Storm coasted to a 79-53 victory, and the bettor pocketed $30,000 profit (total payout $210,000).
The second was a $20,000 bet on Illinois moneyline -8000 vs. Penn. The Fighting Illini rolled 105-70, and the bettor won all of $250.
Here’s Hoping You Had It
On Friday, favorites went 16-0 straight up and 12-4 against the spread. As DraftKings pointed out afterward, a 16-leg moneyline parlay of favorites had odds of +3400 (34/1).
If you threw 10 bucks on that, then you would’ve fattened your wallet by $340. If you got frisky and put $100 on it, then it’s a $3,400 winner.
And as noted above, VCU trailed North Carolina by 19 in the second half. If you’d jumped on Rams in-game moneyline at that point — which isn’t advisable, but in case you had — the odds were +3500.
A tenner on VCU to come back and win would’ve netted $350.
I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie
A few other high-roller plays from the first weekend of March Madness odds:
- $100,000 Purdue -7.5 vs. Miami. The Boilermakers covered in a 79-69 win, netting the bettor $90,909 profit (total payout $190,909).
- $55,000 St. John’s -3.5 (-108) vs. Kansas (DraftKings). That’s a loser, as the Red Storm won by just two, 67-65, on the aforementioned buzzer beater.
- $54,100 Texas Tech -1.5 (+105) vs. Alabama. The Red Raiders got run out of the gym, losing 90-65. So that’s another sizable donation to the house.
With these major wagers, keep in mind that the high-rollers have the bankroll to make such bets — and absorb what would be obscene losses for the rest of us.
Keep your wagers and expectations reasonable for the Sweet 16. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.