Sports betting roundup: Conference tournaments get going ahead of Selection Sunday

Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr. shoots the ball over Michigan... — Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr. shoots the ball over Michigan State guard Kur Teng in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Sunday, March 8, 2026. Credit: AP/Lon Horwedel

By By RYAN HANNABLE of BetMGM SportsbookMarch 9, 2026 12:35 pm

With the regular season over, the conference tournaments in men's college basketball begin for all the major teams ahead of this weekend's Selection Sunday.

And in addition to the NBA and NHL, there was also the World Baseball Classic starting last week.

Here’s a look at how things played out at the BetMGM online sportsbook:

Trends of the Week

On Sunday, Michigan State (+9.5 at Michigan) was the most-bet team to cover and also win (+375). But Michigan came away with a 90-80 win, barely covering the spread. The over of 150.5 was also the most bet total of the day.

On Saturday, North Carolina and Duke met to close out the regular season in one of the biggest rivalries in the game. Duke closed as a 17.5-point favorite and took in 36% of the bets and 44% of the money. Duke won the game 76-61, but did not cover the spread.

The United States took on Britain in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday night and won 9-1. Kyle Schwarber (+165) was the most-bet player to hit a homer, which he did in the fifth inning to give the United States a 3-1 lead.

Upsets of the Week

On the PGA Tour, Akshay Bhatia came from behind to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, beating Daniel Berger on the first playoff hole. Going into the event, Bhatia was +5500 in pretournament outright winner betting, taking in 2% of the bets and 1.8% of the money. Bhatia shot 5 under on the back nine, including an eagle the par-5 16th hole to claim his third career PGA Tour victory.

Duke's Dame Sarr (7) dunks during the first half of... — Duke's Dame Sarr (7) dunks during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina in Durham, N.C., Saturday, March 7, 2026. Credit: AP/Ben McKeown

Coming Up

Going into the final week before Selection Sunday, Duke is favored to win the college basketball national championship at +320, followed by Michigan at +325 and Arizona at +475.

Behind the top three are Florida at +675, Houston at +1000, UConn at +1300, Illinois at +1800, Iowa State at +2200 and Kansas at +3500.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.