Like everyone else, Vegas oddsmakers are flabbergasted by the inclusions of Louisville and Michigan State as 4-seeds, and the overpowered Midwest regional, in an otherwise commendable tournament bracket.
"Louisville as a 4 seed? If I was picking, I would take Florida first, and then my second pick would be Louisville," said Nick Bogdanovich, director of William Hill sports books. "Look at two of the 4 seeds? Who would you want over them? On a neutral court, you would bet your life savings on Michigan State or Louisville against Wisconsin."
Ed Salmons, of the LVH Superbook, says Louisville will give points all the way to the Final Four, because there are only two more favored teams in the tournament: Florida, and fellow 4-seed Michigan State.
"I don't know why they're doing this," Salmons said of the selection committee. "It's rare to see two of the top three teams favored to win the tournament are No. 4 seeds."
About that Midwest, where poor Wichita State is lumped in with the likes of Louisville, Duke, and Michigan, Salmons again takes issue:
"That's probably the hardest bracket I've ever seen in my whole life. It was a comedy show to watch all the teams they stacked that Wichita State would have to beat to get to the Final Four. It was over-the-top insane."
Florida is the favorite, but not necessarily because it's the best team. A ton of money is coming in on the Gators because their path to the Final Four is much easier when compared to the strong 4-seeds, and even top-seeded Arizona. Johnny Avello, director of the Wynn Las Vegas sports book, would prefer to knock their chances down a peg, but "I can't even deliberate because I have too much money on them."
In addition to the 4-seeds and the Midwest pileup, bookmakers take issue with the exclusion of SMU from the tournament and how UMass somehow earned a 6-seed, but all-in-all, they're confused by the whole damn thing.
"I don't think the committee should be doing it," Avello said. "I think they should hand it over to the bookmakers...The committee is a bunch of frauds."
Vegas oddsmakers scathe seeding of this year's NCAA Tournament [Las Vegas Sun]
Only thing to expect in NCAA tournament: analysis aplenty [Las Vegas Review-Journal