Odds Favor ACC Winning the Most Games in Round of 64 of 2019 NCAA Tournament

• The Big Ten leads all conferences with eight teams in the 2019 NCAA Tournament
• The ACC has three No. 1 seeds and seven teams total
• Which conference will win the most games in the Round of 64

Starting Thursday, the 2019 NCAA Tournament is upon us. Sportsbooks have now posted odds on which conference will win the most games in the Round of 64.

Have a look at the board, and let’s try to steer you down the right path.

Conference Wins Totals Round of 64

*Odds taken March 19

Will More than Half the Big Ten Teams Advance?

The Big Ten conference has an eight-member dance crew, the most of any conference in the 64-team field. (I use “64” instead of “68” because the First Four games do not apply to this prop.)

The conference has some strong teams competing. No. 2 Michigan State leads the way: they were squeezed out of a top seed despite sharing the Big Ten regular-season crown and winning the conference tournament. MSU is 18.5-point favorites against Bradley in their first-round game.

The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines are also heavy favorites to win their first game against Montana. But even chalking those up as Ws, you’re going to need the other six school to muster up three wins.

Purdue as a No. 3 should knock off 14-seed Old Dominion as 12.5-point chalk, and No. 6 Maryland is a sizable favorite over No. 11 Belmont, which beat Temple in the First Four.

Getting as far away from the Big Ten as possible could help out Ethan Happ and a struggling #Badgers offense. You subscribing to that theory? Or is it wishful thinking? https://t.co/dlRLLhPYSn

— Jim Polzin (@JimPolzinWSJ) March 19, 2019

Wisconsin sits in that creepy five spot, and that’s where things get wacky. They face No. 12 Oregon as short 1.5-point favorites.

Did you know that, in 29 of the last 34 years, at least one 12-seed has knocked off a No. 5? Those No. 12s have a 19-25 mark over the last 11 years.

Oregon does have the ability to play spoiler here.

The Game Behind The Game: Minnesota, coached by Richard Pitino, will face Louisville. Pitino’s father Rick is suing Louisville for $44 million.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 17, 2019

That leaves No. 10 Iowa, a team in a tailspin, needing to knock off AAC Tourney Champs Cincinnati, or No. 10 Minnesota beating a legit-good Louisville team. Let’s start off with getting some value for our bucks.

The Pick: Under 4.5 wins (+180)

Can the Big East Hang Tough?

Three of the four seeds are already in, and we’re going to find out tomorrow night if St. John’s will make it four.

We already know how good and battle-tested defending national champion-Villanova is.

Jay Wright’s crew plays at a glacial pace and they jack a ton of threes (one of four school to top 1,000 attempts this season). It’s a good recipe to at least get past first-round opponent, Saint Mary’s, especially with the Gaels having to travel across the country.

No. 10 Seton Hall is the Big East Conference Tourney runner-up to the Wildcats, and they have a stud in Myles Powell. Picking them to win against No. 7 Wofford is not a stretch. The Pirates are short underdogs to the upstart Terriers, who went 1-4 versus power-conference opponents.

Markus Howard. On fire.

53 PTS (10 threes)
15/26 FGs
14 PTS in OT

Howard becomes the only D1 player with multiple 50-pt games in last 20 years ? pic.twitter.com/07HYXT8xWV

— Bleacher Report CBB (@br_CBB) January 10, 2019

I really like Marquette over Murray State, even in that five-spot. Markus Howard, the Golden Eagles’ scoring machine, shot just 1-for-15 in a loss to Seton Hall in the Big East semis. Expect him to bounce back and be extra-motivated, staring down soon-to-be lottery pick Ja Morant. Howard is sixth in the nation in scoring; Morant is eighth.

Take it easy, Johnnies, your conference pals got you.

The Pick: Over 2.5 wins (+210) 

Don’t Doubt the ACC

Since 1985, this is the winningest conference in NCAA Tournament history. They’re the only one that has over 300 wins in that span. The Big East’s 286 are a distant second. All that history doesn’t guarantee a thing, but I still like them to go over 5.5.

This year’s reps are solid from top to bottom. They’re led of course by three No. 1 seeds: Duke, North Carolina and Virginia, though the Cavaliers were the first team to ever lose to a 16-seed in the history of the tournament last year. It was bound to happen, but don’t expect that big a stunner this year – at least not in the first round.

#floridastate knocks off #Virginia in #ACC19 #ACCTournament #basketball #NCAATournament #NCAA #marchmadness #March #ncaabasketball https://t.co/mc5e7yziAP

— Mets Therapy (@TherapyMets) March 16, 2019

In any other conference, Florida State would have been a contender for the title and likely would have garnered a better seed; but they’re in among the ACC heavies, which left them with just a No. 4 seed. No worries, they should advance past an overmatched Vermont team, even with the game in Hartford.

Where do you generate two more wins? Virginia Tech should avoid an upset against 13-seed St. Louis.

And while I don’t feel great about the #8 Syracuse vs #9 Baylor match-up, I think Louisville messes up the Big Ten bracket with a win over Minnesota.

The ACC will advance early, and often.

The Pick: Over 5.5 wins (-270)