Las Vegas oddsmakers have perfected the art of setting lines. Since Nevada gaming regulators began tracking the Super Bowl in 1991, state sportsbooks have only lost on the big game twice (New York Giants’ 17-14 upset of the New England Patriots in 2008, San Francisco 49ers’ 49-26 blowout of the San Diego Chargers in 1995).<\/p>\n
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However, there’s a learning curve in other states. Rhode Island sportsbooks lost $890,000 on the Patriots’ win in February over the Los Angeles Chargers. The state is the only jurisdiction in New England where legal sports wagering is operational.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Sportsbooks are hoping to avoid a similar outcome on tonight’s basketball game. Expecting more money on Virginia, DraftKings in New Jersey has the spread at two points allocated to Texas Tech.<\/p>\n
Title Predictions<\/b><\/h2>\n
ESPN <\/i>asked five of its college basketball experts to give their expectations for tonight’s championship. Four said Virginia will win.<\/p>\n
The network’s “Basketball Power Index” \u2013 a computerized simulation that runs 10,000 theoretical games between the two teams \u2013 says Virginia has a 69.8 percent chance of cutting down the nets. Nate Silver’s ThreeSixtyFive <\/i>has it more competitive, with the Cavaliers given a 55 percent chance of winning the university’s first men’s basketball title.<\/strong><\/p>\nVirginia entered March Madness at 6\/1. Bettors who put $100 on the Cavaliers will net $600 should the team outscore Texas Tech. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:20 pm ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (34-3) are slim one-point favorites against the No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (31-6) in tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball National Championship. The Cavaliers emerged in their Final Four win over No. 5 Auburn in controversy. Virginia got away with a double dribble in the final seconds, and then officials called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":102281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Virginia Favored Over Texas Tech in NCAA National Championship<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n