FairwayJay On CBS News For 2023 NCAA Tournament

Reporting on CBS News including Conference Records and Betting Impact

The Final Four is set for college’s basketball’s biggest stage for 2023 NCAA Tournament, and I chip in more coverage in Forbes. There are no top teams remaining (No #1, #2, #3 seeds), but betting has still been heavy and a record 68 million American’s were expected to wager on March Madness. I discuss this and other betting news surrounding the 2023 NCAA Tournament in a pre-tournament segment on CBS News. I chip-in more coverage a week late on CBS News to discuss the Sweet Sixteen, opening round games and the impact betting has on the tournament.

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The 2023 NCAA men’s March Madness has kicked off with the first four games. According to the American Gaming Association, 68 million Americans are expected to wager over $15 billion on this year’s tournament. Jay Ginsbach, senior sports betting analyst for Forbes SportsMoney, joins CBS News’ Anne-Marie Green with more.

There are no longer any perfect brackets remaining in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. However, many Americans are still betting on the action. Jay Ginsbach, a sports analyst and contributor at Forbes, joins CBS News to discuss the impact gambling has on the tournament.

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Final Four

Saturday, April 1

• No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs No. 5 San Diego State (-2.5) | Total: 131.5
• No. 5 Miami vs No. 4 Connecticut (-5.5) | Total: 149.5 (opened -4.5)

The Sportsbooks have been cleaning up on most bettors, and I talked to BetMGM about the wagering news for 2023 NCAA Tournament ahead last weekend’s Elite Eight.

“Tournament results have been written like a script by the sportsbooks regardless of results going forward,” BetMGM Vice President of Trading said before Sunday’s Elite Eight games.

The Big Ten was mostly brutal in the tournament outside of Michigan State, a No. 7 seed and the only Big Ten team out of eight to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Of course, Purdue losing as a No. 1 seed to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickenson was a historic upset, and then No. 1 Kansas fell to No. 9 Arkansas in the Round of 32.  Alabama and Houston losing as No. 1 seeds in the Sweet Sixteen as -7.5 point favorites busted millions more brackets and gave the sportsbooks another windfall.

The Big East led by Final Four entry Connecticut has done well going 10-4 in the NCAA Tournament thus far. The UCONN Huskies are the only remaining team of five that fit the profile of a NCAA Tournament champion – ranking top 20 in both adjusted offense and defense ratings by KenPom.

NCAA Tournament Conference Records

CONFERENCE (TEAMS)	REMAINING TEAMS	RECORD
Big Ten (8)	1	6-8 (.429)
SEC (8)	3	9-8 (.529)
Big 12 (7)	2	9-7 (.563)
Big East (5)	3	10-4 (.714)
ACC (5)	1	7-4 (.636)
Pac-12 (4)	1	3-4 (.429)
Mountain West (4)	1	4-3 (.571)
American (2)	1	2-2 (.500)
West Coast (2)	1	4-2 (.667)
Conference USA (1)	1	4-0 (1.000)
Ivy League (1)	1	2-1 (.667)