March Madness 2012 Odds

March Madness 2012 is here! The 68-school, single-elimination NCAA Men's Division I Basketball tournament begins March 13 and ends with the championship game at New Orleans' Mercedes Benz Superdome on April 2.

It is anyone's bet as to which of the March Madness picks will take the title this year, with a number of teams able to lay claim to being a contender. Regional top seeds Kentucky (South) Syracuse (East), Michigan State (West) and University of North Carolina (Midwest) lead a strong field into the tournament.

Kentucky, the undisputed top seed on Selection Sunday, is going after its eighth national title with the knowledge that four of its top players are freshmen who might not remain in college once the Final Four is over. Two Wildcats, center Anthony Davis and small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, are being talked up as potential number one picks in the 2013 NBA Draft.

The other three number one seeds are strong enough that the experts are promising there will be no upsets. Having said that, several other teams are being talked up - such as number two seeds Kansas, Ohio State, Duke and Missouri, as well as potential darkhorses in Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Murray State, Marquette, UNLV and even Ivy League champion Harvard.

Kentucky actually has the toughest draw, having been drawn in the South against potential opponents such as defending champion Connecticut and arch-rival Duke. Long-time college basketball fans will recall that Duke beat Kentucky 20 years ago in one of the most memorable games ever when Christian Laettner hit a buzzer-beating turnaround jumper.

All good online sportsbooks offer NCAA basketball gambling. This year is no different with William Hill Online, bet365, 888sports, Sports Interaction providing March Madness basketball odds for non-US residents, and all the usual Las Vegas-based bookmakers providing betting as well.

Sportsbooks throughout Las Vegas posted their odds Monday, following Sunday's announcement of the brackets. The NFL Super Bowl is the most valuable event for Vegas bookies, but NCAA March Madness is an undoubted number two - especially during the first week.

Sports Interaction, an online bookmaker specializing in odds for American sports events, is one of the gambling operators offering wagers on every game for the tournament. Bet on the head-to-head winner, or take the spread or over/under points wagers for a little more variety. Championship odds will come later as the tournament progresses.

The handicap option works well for March Madness basketball betting. There are plenty of teams out there with poor records that inflate their odds of getting close to a title contender like Kentucky, but who will have a lot to prove at the tail-end of the season and therefore could come close to an upset - even if not actually achieving a boilover. Of course, every year there actually are some upsets, so even though the top teams are all looking like steady favorites, you might want to consider a head-to-head bet or two.

The NCAA announced the March Madness brackets on Sunday, breaking the 68 competing teams (to be reduced to 64 after the first wildcard round) into four regions, as is usually the case: South, East, West and Midwest.

March Madness printable brackets are the most comfortable way to bet on NCAA college basketball throughout the next month, as you can use them to follow the progress of all the teams and to turn a small wager in to a big win by the end of the tournament.

The web is home to literally thousands of printable brackets, as every news and sports site offers one to its readers. ESPN.com is one website that has provided an attractive March Madness printable bracket, but you can even find them on news-oriented sites or on this very page.

The fact that so many websites offer their readers these brackets is the ultimate proof of just how massive NCAA March Madness has grown to become over the years, and how obsessed American and global basketball fans are with sports betting on this fantastic event.