NCAA Tournament by the odds: Las Vegas’ opening betting lines

Betting action on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament used to not pick up until Wednesday, the day before the round of 64 marathon begins.

That’s no longer the case, as the record $439.5 million wagered statewide on basketball last March helps indicate. Although the majority of gamblers will still wait until closer to tip-off, the demand to bet starts immediately upon the reveal of the 68-team field.

And oddsmakers are increasingly ready to supply the odds in that time frame. Betting lines for the first set of this year’s games were up within 30 minutes of the bracket being set on Sunday at a number of sports books around town.

The Golden Nugget was among the first shops to post numbers.

Check out all of the downtown property’s opening lines below.

First Four

No. 11 seed UCLA minus-3 vs. No. 11 seed Saint Bonaventure

No. 11 seed Arizona State pick’em vs. No. 11 seed Syracuse

No. 16 seed Radford minus-3.5 vs. No. 16 seed Long Island-Brooklyn

No. 16 seed Texas Southern minus-5 vs. No. 16 seed North Carolina Central

South Region

No. 1 seed Virginia minus-22.5 vs. No. 16 seed UMBC

No. 8 seed Creighton minus-1.5 vs. No. 9 seed Kansas State

No. 5 seed Kentucky minus-5.5 vs. No. 12 seed Davidson

No. 4 seed Arizona minus-8 vs. No. 13 seed Buffalo

No. 6 seed Miami minus-1 vs. No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago

No. 3 seed Tennessee minus-13.5 vs. No. 14 seed Wright State

No. 7 seed UNR minus-1.5 vs. No. 10 seed Texas

No. 2 seed Cincinnati minus-16 vs. No. 15 seed Georgia State

East Region

No. 8 seed Virginia Tech minus-2 vs. No. 9 seed Alabama

No. 5 seed West Virginia minus-9.5 vs. No. 12 Murray State

No. 4 seed Wichita State minus-12 vs. No. 13 seed Marshall

No. 3 seed Texas Tech minus-12 vs. No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin

No. 10 seed Butler minus-1 vs. No. 7 seed Arkansas

No. 2 seed Purdue minus-21 vs. No. 15 seed Cal-State Fullerton

Midwest Region

No. 1 seed Kansas minus-15.5 vs. No. 16 seed Penn

No. 8 seed Seton Hall pick’em vs. No. 9 seed NC State

No. 5 seed Clemson minus-4.5 vs. No. 12 seed New Mexico State

No. 4 seed Auburn minus-11 vs. No. 13 seed College Of Charleston

No. 3 seed Michigan State minus-13.5 vs. No. 14 seed Bucknell

No. 7 seed Rhode Island pick’em vs. No. 10 seed Oklahoma

No. 2 seed Duke minus-21 vs. No. 15 seed Iona

West Region

No. 8 seed Missouri minus-1.5 vs. No. 9 seed Florida State

No. 5 seed Ohio State minus-8.5 vs. No. 12 seed South Dakota State

No. 4 seed Gonzaga minus-11.5 vs. No. 13 seed UNC-Greensboro

No. 6 seed Houston minus-3.5 vs. No. 11 seed San Diego State

No. 3 seed Michigan minus-11 vs. No. 14 seed Montana

No. 7 seed Texas A&M minus-4.5 vs. No. 10 seed Providence

No. 2 seed North Carolina minus-17.5 vs. No. 15 seed Lipscomb

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.