Tight Odds for Virginia vs. Texas Tech March Madness Title Game
After escaping with a win in their Final Four matchup on Saturday night, the Virginia Cavaliers are set as small betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com for the tournament's championship game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Monday night.
Virginia opened as a 1.5-point favorite for the title game, but that line moved to Cavaliers -1 at some sportsbooks on Sunday. The total for the game is listed between 117 and 118 points.
The No. 1 Cavaliers stunned the Auburn Tigers 63-62 as 6-point betting favorites in their tournament semifinal matchup on Saturday night, getting three free throws from Kyle Guy with less than a second left on the clock to punch their ticket to the championship game. Guy ended up with 15 points on the night, while Ty Jerome led the way with 21 points in the win.
Virginia failed to cover that 6-point spread against Auburn, dropping them to 2-3 against the spread so far at the Big Dance. The Cavaliers opened with a 71-56 win over Gardner-Webb as 22.5-point favorites, then topped Oklahoma 63-51 as 10.5-point chalk. Virginia then failed to cover against Oregon in a 53-49 win as 8.5-point favorites in their Sweet 16 matchup, but paid off for supporters in the Elite Eight with an 80-75 win over Purdue as 4.5-point chalk.
Texas Tech didn't need dramatics to beat the Michigan State Spartans in the other Final Four matchup, taking a 23-21 lead into halftime and rolling to a 61-51 victory as 2-point underdogs on the March Madness odds. Matt Mooney had a team-high 22 points for the Red Raiders on Saturday night, with Jarrett Culver adding 10 points in the semifinal victory for Texas Tech.
The No. 3 Red Raiders are a perfect 5-0 ATS at the 2019 NCAA Tournament, which began for them with a 72-57 win over Northern Kentucky as a 13-point favorite and a 78-58 win over Buffalo as a 4-point favorite. Texas Tech then topped Michigan 63-44 as a 1.5-point underdog in the Sweet 16, and beat top-seeded Gonzaga 75-69 as 5-point underdogs in the Elite Eight.
The UNDER is also 4-1 in Texas Tech's five games so far at the tournament for totals bettors, and 4-1 as well in Virginia's five March Madness outings, making it the trend to watch on Monday night. Tipoff at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Monday is set for 9:20pm ET.
