It didn’t take long for the madness of March to start.
No. 15 Princeton stunned No. 2 Arizona in the afternoon window of the first day of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, closing as about +750 underdogs and catching 14 points. Despite trailing by double digits in the second half, the Tigers rallied to take the lead in the final three minutes and shut down the Wildcats vaunted offense to 55 points.
Arizona, who was +480 to win the South Region behind only No. 1 seed Alabama, and +1500 to win the National Championship is now eliminated, opening up the path for chaos in the bottom half of the region.
Meanwhile, the favorite and No. 1 seed Alabama, who throttled Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 96-75, saw their odds shift to win the South Region considerably now that their biggest competition has been eliminated. Alabama went from +180 to +130 to advance to the Final Four and +500 to win the National Championship, slightly behind the favorite Houston, who is +490.
As for Princeton, the team advances to face No. 7 Missouri, who beat Utah State 76-65 as a 1.5-point underdog. The Tigers won its first NCAA Tournament game since 1998 and opened as 6.5-point underdog against their Round of 32 foe, but if you are feeling like a Cinderella run is in order for the Ivy League team, they are still 75-1 to advance to the Final Four.
Here are the updated National Championship odds in what is setting up to be a chaotic NCAA Tournament.
2023 National Championship Odds
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
