{"id":263904,"date":"2023-03-12T20:30:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T01:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=263904"},"modified":"2023-03-13T13:56:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T18:56:02","slug":"ncaa-march-madness-houston-bama-favorites-to-win-2023-basketball-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-march-madness-houston-bama-favorites-to-win-2023-basketball-title\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA March Madness: Houston, Bama Favorites to Win NCAA – Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The field for the NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament has been announced. It\u2019s time for 68 teams to go dancing during March Madness.<\/p>\n

\"Alabama<\/a>
Alabama’s men’s basketball team celebrates their second SEC Tournament title in three years after beating Texas A&M in Sunday’s tourney final at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Alabama is also the top seed for the NCAA Tournament, which starts later this week at various sites. (Image: Crimson Tide Photos\/UA Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alabama, Houston, Kansas, and Purdue earned the top seeds in the South, Midwest, East, and West regions, respectively. Not surprisingly, they\u2019re also the top teams at FanDuel and DraftKings as of Sunday evening, after the draw was announced.<\/p>\n

And while Houston was the No. 2 overall seed behind Alabama, both of the major sports betting operators have the Cougars ahead of the Crimson Tide as the overall favorite. FanDuel offers Houston at +500, and DraftKings<\/a> has the Cougars at +475 as of Sunday night.<\/p>\n

DraftKings had Alabama at +650, and FanDuel<\/a> listed the SEC champions at +800. The Crimson Tide enter the tournament having won seven of their last eight games, and in Sunday’s SEC Tournament championship game, they avenged a loss in the regular-season finale to Texas A&M.<\/p>\n

Purdue is +1200 at FanDuel and +1000 at DraftKings. Kansas, meanwhile, is +1000 at FanDuel and +1200 at DraftKings.<\/p>\n

Houston Hopes to be Healthy on Thursday<\/h2>\n

Houston did lose Sunday to Memphis, 75-65, in the American Athletic Conference Tournament final. That ended a 13-game winning streak. But the Cougars were without leading scorer Marcus Sasser, who left Saturday\u2019s semifinal early after sustaining a leg injury.<\/p>\n

Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters after the AAC final that he didn\u2019t see Sasser limping around when the team arrived Sunday morning at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. However, he did not \u201cput a high priority\u201d on playing the 6-2 senior guard, who averages 17.1 points per game.<\/p>\n

\n

I don’t think I could have lived with myself had he played today and got hurt,\u201d<\/strong> Sampson said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Houston Chronicle<\/i> reporter Joseph Duarte tweeted Sunday evening that Sasser said he was certain he would be ready for the team\u2019s first-round game on Thursday against Northern Kentucky in Birmingham, AL.<\/p>\n

\n

Houston guard Marcus Sasser says he\u2019s confident he will be 100 percent for Thursday\u2019s NCAA Tournament opener<\/p>\n

— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) March 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n