2017 NCAA March Madness Betting Guide For Canadians

The 2017 NCAA March Madness tournament tips off this week as 64 teams (68, if you include the play-in games) battle it out for a national college basketball championship.

There aren’t many more exciting spectacles in sport than March Madness. The single-elimination format produces so much drama and excitement, with several teams emerging every year as Cinderella stories we fall in love with.

It’s also incredibly fun to bet on March Madness, especially the first 2 days of the tournament with non-stop action from noon eastern to midnight.

In this 2017 March Madness betting guide for Canadians, we’ll tell you the best betting websites for March Madness, list the 2017 March Madness schedule, let you know about the tournament odds and check out a few predictions.

Best March Madness Betting Websites For Canadians

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Proline and the other provincial sports lotteries offer March Madness betting in Canada, but online sportsbooks produce the best experience because they feature single game betting, superior odds and a wide array of betting lines.

The list of the best March Madness betting websites for Canadians has to start with Pinnacle.com. Their reduced juice odds mean that you will only have to risk $105 for every $100 you want to win on a typical point spread or Over/Under bet, compared to $110 for every $100 at almost all other sportsbooks.

Bodog is offering $200 cash bonuses for new players. Sports Interaction’s bonus is $125, but they’re located in Canada and very easy to deposit money at, so you might prefer trying them out instead.

2017 March Madness Schedule

The 2017 NCAA tournament gets underway Tuesday and Wednesday with four play-in games in Dayton, Ohio.

Winners of those games advance to the “first round” of the tournament, which begins Thursday. There will be 16 games on both Thursday and Friday, at venues across the United States.

Survivors from Round 1 will move on to the Round of 32, which takes place Saturday and Sunday at those same venues.

The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight take place the following Thursday-Sunday, with the Final Four and national championship slated for April 1-3 in Phoenix, Az.

2017 March Madness Odds

The North Carolina Tar Heels and defending champion Villanova Wildcats are the co-favourites on the 2017 March Madness odds, each paying 15/2 to hoist the national championship trophy this year.

Gonzaga, which did not lose until its final regular-season game of the year, is tied with Kansas and Duke at 8/1 odds.

Traditional powerhouse programs Kentucky (10/1), Arizona (11/1) and UCLA (14/1) round out the top 8 on the 2017 March Madness odds.

Some attractive darkhorses include ACC tournament finalist Notre Dame (50/1), Big Ten champion Michigan (50/1) and Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals (18/1).

2017 NCAA March Madness Predictions

So you’ve signed up for your March Madness betting website or are ready to buy your Proline tickets, you’ve checked out the schedule and you’re aware of the tournament odds.

Now here comes the tough part. There’s a reason Warren Buffet offers a million dollars every year to any of his employees who can fill out a perfect bracket. Hell, he’s even sweetened the offer this year, promising $1 million to any of his employees who can get the first 32 games of the tournament correct.

If you’re interested in making your own 2017 NCAA March Madness predictions, here are a couple of articles that could help you as you fill out your bracket:

Personally, when it comes to March Madness predictions, we always like to turn to the experts.

So here’s what a few of the most respected NCAA basketball minds are saying about the best bets to win 2017 March Madness.

1. Villanova Wildcats (15/2)

ESPN’s Fivethirtyeight.com, a site that provides advanced analysis of sports, politics and economics, gives Villanova a 15% chance of winning the tournament. That suggests there’s good value on the Wildcats at 15/2, which implies an 11.8% probability.

Nova returns Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Jalen Brunson from last year’s title-winning squad, and ranked second in the nation in scoring this year.

And after finally getting over the hump last year, the Wildcats shouldn’t be intimidated by the pressure of being the top ranked team in the tournament.

2. Gonzaga Bulldogs (8/1)

Ken Pomeroy March Madness predictions

Renowned NCAA basketball expert Ken Pomeroy (better known as “KenPom”) gives Gonzaga better than a 20% chance to win the national title. If that’s true, 8/1 odds on the Bulldogs is an absolute steal.

The biggest knock on the Zags will always be that they play in a weak conference and don’t test themselves against tough competition, making them vulnerable to elite squads in March Madness. But Gonzaga can only play who’s on their schedule (they did beat Florida, Iowa State and Arizona in non-conference play), and they handled all comers with ease until losing at home to BYU in their season finale.

The Bulldogs bounced back from that by winning the championship in the West Coast Conference tournament, capped by a 74-56 rout of No. 19 St. Mary’s in the final. Gonzaga ranks in KenPom’s top 10 in both offence and defence, making them a very popular pick to finally crack the Final Four this spring.

3. Arizona Wildcats (11/1)

Popular free capper @VegasRefund has been on the Arizona Wildcats train for a while, and he’s not jumping off now.

The Wildcats pay a nice 11/1 to win the tournament odds and are coming off their fourth Pac 12 tournament championship in the last 7 years, beating fifth-ranked Oregon 83-80 in the final.

Arizona’s gone to the Elite Eight three times in seven years under coach Sean Miller but never advanced to the Final Four. This could be their year.