Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament: Pittsburgh
Written March 25, 2009 by Anthony Moretti
With the Sweet 16 set for this year’s NCAA Tournament the odds to win the championship for the East Region’s #1 seed, the Pittsburgh Panthers, have been set at several online sportsbooks. Wins in this year’s tournament haven’t come easy for the Panthers. They had to battle in the first round against East Tennessee State, and needed some heroics in the last minute to get past the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round. Regardless of how they’ve won, the important thing is that they have won. Survive and advance. That’s the motto you may have heard throughout the tournament and Pitt is the prime example. The Panthers came into the tournament as one of the favorites to win the whole thing, but sportsbooks aren’t so sure about them after their performance in the first two rounds. They now have just the 3rd best odds to win the tournament behind only Connecticut. Looking at the futures bets right now, Pittsburgh is at 5 to 1 odds to win the NCAA Championship this year.
Up next for the Panthers is the #4 seed, Xavier, which could give them their toughest test to date. The consensus opinion on Pitt is that they are one of the most physical, talented teams in the field, but they have played inconsistently and not up to their potential. It won’t be clear until the outcome of Thursday’s Sweet Sixteen match up whether or not the close-call games in the first two rounds are an indication of a team that is battle-tested and ready to win it all or a team that’s struggling to find their stride in the post season. 2009 marks the 5th time in the last 8 seasons that Pittsburgh has made it to the Sweet Sixteen, but in all 4 previous trips they’ve failed to advance to the Elite 8.
One thing the Panthers do have going for them in the tournament has been the play of Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. So far only one of the two has been an impact player in their tournament games so far, Blair in the first round and Young in the second round. Luckily, stand-out performances from one of these two studs has been enough to advance, but I’m not so sure that will be enough against Xavier. If the two can each start to put together great individual performances, however, Xavier and the rest of the remaining field will have their hands full. Bet Pittsburgh +500 to win the NCAA Championship.
On Thursday Pitt will try to avoid being the first #1 seed ousted from the tournament. They’ve show flashes of being the dominant team that everyone expected them to be, but they haven’t put together a great game from start to finish yet. Maybe they are due. The Panthers would get a lot of help if Jermaine Dixon could find his shot, he hasn’t hit a 3-pointer yet in the tournament. If Dixon finds his stroke it opens up the inside for Pitt where few teams can contain Blair in the post.
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If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- Pittsburgh vs East Tennessee State: NCAA Tournament Predictions & Odds
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- Xavier Musketeers Odds to Win the NCAA Championship
- 2009 NCAA Tournament Odds: East Region
- Sweet Sixteen Predictions: Xavier vs Pittsburgh
3 Responses to “Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament: Pittsburgh”
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I like Louisville to play Missouri in the final. Pittsburgh needs help from its shooters in the later stages of the tournament
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today’s proposal is much better than yesterday because I did not trust the NBA Memphis U my best option for Missouri has less defense and I think the game will be ahy
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and the Connecticut game someone can give me your opinion please would like to know their views
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