A bookmaker shock occurred this past weekend as #1 ranked Kansas was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were the top offshore betting choice to win the 2010 NCAA Tournament but they were upset on Saturday by Northern Iowa.
The bookmaker bottom line could end up being pretty good though with Kansas out of the NCAA Tournament. It was said that about half of the people that filled out a March Madness bracket had the Jayhawks winning it all. This has been an NCAA Tournament full of upsets and that is almost always great news for the bookmaker. The public loves to bet favorites and when they don’t cover in offshore betting it is normally a very good day for the sportsbook.
Kansas was so well respected in college basketball that they got the bulk of the attention from gamblers. Not many people thought the Jayhawks would lose. After losing 69-67 to Northern Iowa, the Jayhawks were the first #1 seed to lose in this year’s tourney. “You operate under pressures the whole year that a lot of teams don’t operate under because of where we were ranked and expectations,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said, “And to put ourselves in a position that we were in, they don’t come around every year. You got to make the most of those opportunities when you’re granted them. That’s probably what stings the most.”
Northern Iowa is not a fluke team. They have won the Missouri Valley two straight years and they have three senior starters including guard Ali Farokhmanesh. “We feel like we’re a good team,” forward Adam Koch said. “We can play with anybody. We never doubted we could play with them at all.” Kansas head coach Bill Self was also not surprised. He was worried about Northern Iowa from the start. “When the brackets came out, the first team I looked at was Northern Iowa,” Self said. “Lot of people talked about Ohio State or Georgetown or Michigan State … The first team I looked at was Northern Iowa because I know how they play and in basketball the key to having a good team is to get easy baskets and not give up easy baskets.”
Saturday was full of upsets as #2 Villanova lost to #10 St. Mary’s while #3 New Mexico was routed by #11 Washington. With Kansas out, the favorite’s role in the 2010 NCAA Tournament goes to Kentucky who has looked very good in their two wins.