March Madness will dominate the sports calendar this weekend as teams punch tickets to the Sweet 16. There are also, however, 16 NBA games and NHL games on the schedule, providing a variety of online sports betting opportunities at BetMGM on Saturday and Sunday.
College Basketball
March Madness Second Round
Saturday, March 18, & Sunday, March 19
All four No. 1 seeds won their second-round games in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, the first of five straight years in which all 1-seeds advanced to the Sweet 16.
Starting in 2010, at least one 1-seed has failed to reach the Sweet 16 in nine of 12 tournaments. Most recently, Baylor lost to 9-seed North Carolina in the second round of the 2022 tourney.
In those 12 tournaments, the 1-seed is 38-9 overall in second-round games, though that 81% winning percentage isn’t enough for moneyline profitability. If you bet $100 on the 1-seed in each of those 47 games, you’d be down $95 — an ROI of -2%, per Bet Labs.
The spread ROI for 1-seeds in those games is almost exactly even: -0.1%. Those teams are 34-31-1 ATS, an ATS win percentage of .515 that ranks fifth among all seeds in second-round games (min. 10 games) since 2010:
- No. 11 seeds: 21-12 (.636)
- No. 10: 15-10-1 (.600)
- No. 12: 16-11 (.593)
- No. 7: 22-20-1 (.524)
- No. 1: 34-31-1 (.515)
You can view all updated March Madness odds at the online sportsbook.
NBA
Denver Nuggets at New York Knicks
Saturday, March 18 | Local TV | 1 p.m. ET
When the Denver Nuggets are winning, they’re tremendous against the spread. When they’re losing, they’re awful against the spread.
Moneyline and spread betting oftentimes mirror each other in all sports. Rarely do they mirror each other to the degree of the Nuggets over the last seven weeks.
From Jan. 28 through March 14, the Nuggets played 20 games. In their 12 wins, they covered the spread 11 times. In their eight losses, they failed to cover the spread seven times.
That was also the case four months ago in the Nuggets’ first game against the Knicks, a three-point loss in which they didn’t cover as a 2-point favorite.
NHL
New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning
Sunday, March 19 | NHL Network | 7 p.m. ET
The Eastern Conference playoff picture hasn’t been in constant flux like the Western Conference playoff picture. That could change in the next week with several critical matchups on the schedule, including the second Devils-Lighting game in four days.
And while the Devils might be playing their best hockey of the season, they’re struggling to cash puck line tickets. They’re just 6-9 ATS (as of March 15) in their last 15 games, 10 of which they’ve won outright.
The Lightning, meanwhile, are struggling to win on the ice and at the book. Two ATS wins in their last 10 games are the fewest since May 2021.
