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Oddsmakers peg trio of teams as clear favorites to win tournament

NCAA Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament Championship-Virginia vs DukeMar 14, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer cuts down the net after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers in the men’s ACC Conference Tournament Championship at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

There may be four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, but in the eyes of oddsmakers, three teams are a cut above the rest of the field.

In the early futures released shortly after the tournament field was announced Sunday night, Duke, Arizona and Michigan were the clear favorites to take home the national championship, with all three slotted in the +300 to +400 range. (+300 means a successful bet would net a bettor $3 of profit for every $1 wagered.)

The fourth No. 1 seed, defending national champion Florida, is slotted in the +650 to +750 range. Those four are only teams below +1000 (10-to-1) in the consensus odds.

The Blue Devils (32-2) were the No. 1-ranked team in the last national rankings released before the tournament field was released. Duke won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, being slotted into the East Region.

Arizona (32-2) won the Big 12 tournament and is the top seed in the West. The other top seeds failed to win their conference tournaments — Michigan (31-3) fell in the Big Ten championship game to Purdue on Sunday, a day after the Gators (26-7) lost to Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

After the 1 seeds is another clear rung for tournament-winning odds, with Houston, Iowa State and Illinois in the +1000 to +2000 range. The Cougars and Cyclones are 2 seeds while the Fighting Illini are a 3 seed and could face Houston in the Sweet 16.

UConn, highly ranked all season but crushed by St. John’s in the Big East tournament final, and Big Ten tourney champ Purdue are the other 2 seeds. The pair fall a notch below in the +2500 to +3500, before another sizeable drop-off in odds.

The first games upon which bettors can wager, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s First Four games in Dayton, Ohio, feature three games with point spreads within a bucket. UMBC is a 2.5-point favorite over Howard in Tuesday’s first game, a matchup of 16 seeds, with Texas a 1.5-point favorite over North Carolina State in Tuesday’s battle of 11 seeds.

Lehigh is favored by 2.5 over Prairie View A&M in Wednesday’s clash of 16 seeds, with the final game featuring Miami (Ohio) a 7.5-point underdog to fellow No. 11 SMU. The RedHawks went undefeated in the regular season before suffering their first loss of the season to UMass in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament on Thursday.

The first full day of action is Thursday, as 32 teams play that day and the other 32 teams play Friday. The tournament concludes in Indianapolis with the Final Four on April 4 and the championship game on April 6.

Odds to win the NCAA Tournament

Team (DraftKings / FanDuel)

Duke (+300 / +380)

Michigan (+360 / +390)

Arizona (+390 / +340)

Florida (+750 / +800)

Houston (+1000 / +1300)

Iowa State (+1500 / +1700)

Illinois (+1900 / +2000)

UConn (+2500 / +3500)

Purdue (+2500 / +2700)

Michigan State (+4000 / +6000)

Virginia (+7500 / +6500)

Gonzaga (+4000 / +7000)

Arkansas (+6000 / +5000)

St. John’s (+6000 / +10000)

Kansas (+6000 / +10000)

–Field Level Media

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Cloud9 rally past LYON in LCS Spring opener

Syndication: The Courier-JournalA custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020.

Cloud9 recorded a 2-1 win over LYON to begin the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.

LYON posted a 35-minute victory on blue before Cloud9 bounced back with a 33-minute triumph on red and 30-minute victory on blue.

Canadian Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme and South Korean Seung-gyu “Thanatos” Park were tabbed as MVPs for Cloud9, while Australian Jonah “Isles” Rosario earned the distinction for LYON.

Also on Saturday, Disguised overcame dropping the first map in 32 minutes to secure a 2-1 victory over Sentinels. The former capped the win with a 30-minute win on blue.

Canadian/Romanian player Christian “KryRa” Rahaian earned a pair of MVP honors for Disguised, while South Korean Yoo-jin “HamBak” Ham received the distinction for Sentinels.

Eight teams will compete in best-of-3 matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs, which will be contested in best-of-5 matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.

Regular season standings

T1. Cloud9, 1-0, 2-1

T1. Disguised, 1-0, 2-1

T3. FlyQuest, 0-0, 0-0

T3. Team Liquid, 0-0, 0-0

T3. Dignitas, 0-0, 0-0

T3. Shopify Rebellion, 0-0, 0-0

T7. LYON, 0-1, 1-2

T7. Sentinels, 0-1, 1-2

–Field Level Media

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Renato Moicano snaps losing streak with submission victory

MMA: UFC 317- Dariush vs MoicanoJun 28, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Renato Moicano of Brazil snapped a two-fight losing streak with a rear-naked-choke submission victory over Scotland’s Chris Duncan at 3:14 of the second round in the lightweight main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

Moicano (21-7-1) dominated the fight, allowing Duncan (15-3-0) just one second of control time while landing over twice as many strikes (62-30). Duncan had a four-match win streak snapped, taking his first defeat since Feb. 24, 2024.

In the co-main event, Virna Jandiroba (23-4-0) came away with a unanimous-decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over fellow Brazilian Tabatha Ricci (12-4-0) in a strawweight fight. It was a bounceback for Jandiroba after she had a five-fight win streak snapped in a title-fight loss to Mackenzie Dern last October.

Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev of Turkey also had a rear-naked-choke submission win on the main card, beating Brazil’s Brendson Ribeiro (17-10-0) 2:52 into the opening round to improve to 9-0-0 in the light heavyweight division.

Ethyn Ewing (10-2-0) came away with a third-round KO/TKO bantamweight victory to hand Brazilian Rafael Estevam (14-1-0) his first MMA loss. Before that, Tommy McMillen (10-0-0) won his UFC debut in the featherweight division with a first-round KO/TKO via a series of blows culminating with a knee strike which took Italy’s Manolo Zecchini (11-5-0) to the mat.

In the main-card opener, Jose Delano (17-3-0) of Brazil won via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) over Poland’s Robert Ruchala (11-3-0) in his UFC debut.

–Field Level Media

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Padres, Red Sox chasing first series win of season

MLB: San Francisco Giants at San Diego PadresMar 30, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler (10) delivers during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

With both starting pitchers seeking bounce-back outings for their new teams, the Boston Red Sox and visiting San Diego Padres face off to close a three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon.

The Padres scored a 3-2 victory on Saturday after Ramon Laureano’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning. San Diego now turns to a familiar sight on the Boston mound in Walker Buehler (0-1, 6.75 ERA) for his second start.

Buehler, who began last season with the Red Sox before he was released in September, will face Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.31). Both teams are searching for their first series victory of the season.

“Laureano has been doing that the last few years, so you’ve got to tip your cap to them,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Gotta regroup and get ready for (Sunday) to win the series.”

Though the Padres entered Saturday hitting a National League-worst .192, Laureano continued a strong early-season run with the big hit. He now boasts a .308 batting average and has reached base safely in six of his first seven games.

“I think Laureano has had the best results and best at-bats we’ve gotten so far, so we’ll probably see him more at the top of the lineup going forward,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said.

A two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed a free-agent contract in February, Buehler made his Padres debut Monday against the San Francisco Giants, allowing three runs on five hits across four innings.

“Our hope is that he kind of returns to who he’s been in the past,” Stammen said last week. “And that we have somebody that was a former All-Star pitcher, someone that was a thorn in our side as the Padres, and becomes a thorn in the side for other people.”

Buehler’s only career start against the Red Sox came in the 18-inning marathon Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. He started and went seven scoreless innings.

The Red Sox were in position to win the series on Saturday, holding a one-run lead with Aroldis Chapman taking the mound in the ninth looking for his second consecutive save. Andruw Monasterio’s pinch-hit RBI fielder’s choice had tied the game for the Red Sox in the eighth.

Instead, Boston fell to a major league-worst 2-6 for the first time since 2019 and has now lost all three of its one-run games this season.

Cora’s offense has also struggled, scoring two or fewer runs for the fourth time in eight games and going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

“We have to make sure when we are ahead in the count, get a pitch you can handle. If not, pass the baton,” Cora said.

The Red Sox had an 8-7 advantage in hits on Saturday, with Roman Anthony (triple) and Ceddanne Rafaela each recording a pair.

Suarez looks to deliver an improved start in his first Fenway Park outing for Boston. He allowed four runs, including a pair of home runs, in 4 1/3 innings Monday against the Houston Astros.

“I feel very good physically,” Suarez said. “I missed a couple (pitches), but I’ll just keep working for the next outing.”

Suarez, who is 3-1 with a 2.39 career ERA in eight appearances (five starts) against the Padres, is coming off back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins and recorded a career-high 151 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings in 2025 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

–Field Level Media

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