It's not a surprise that with two more top seeds bowing out of the tournament, one favorite has shot up as the team to beat. Let's examine each of the team odds and what would be the best value bets to make.
Kansas Jayhawks, 7 to 5 odds ($5 to win $7): All in all, things could not have gone more swimmingly for Jayhawk nation with the departure of all three number one seeds. And there's a half-decent chance they could go to the title game without facing a team better than an EIGHT seed if Butler beats Florida.
All in all, this isn't a terrible value pick. Grab it now before the Final Four, because their odds are going to plummet to pretty chalky territory if they win.
Kentucky Wildcats, 19 to 4 odds ($4 to win $19): These odds are fair, and it makes sense. Kentucky is going to have much tougher bracket matchups to get to the title game, and then they'll probably have to beat someone like Kansas. Good luck with that.
Connecticut Huskies, 5 to 1 odds ($1 to win $5): Overinflated line due to the Kemba Walker factor. UConn is good, but they're not good enough to be laying 5 to 1. Don't expect to be making many value bets with this team.
North Carolina Tar Heels, 13 to 2 odds ($2 to win $13): These are not great odds, considering North Carolina has to go through Kentucky and the UConn-Arizona winner. Far harder road than those 13 to 2 odds are laying.
Florida Gators, 15 to 2 odds ($2 to win $15): All of a sudden, Florida's odds don't look so bad. They'd still have to likely march through the Kansas juggernaut, but after that game all they'd have to do is handle one of the four teams on the other side of the bracket.
Arizona Wildcats, 10 to 1 odds ($1 to win $10): Note to gamblers--knocking off Duke after one perfect half of basketball does not mean you should be hitching your wagon to UofA as the best team. 10 to 1 is probably the worst bet of all these futures, considering the Wildcats are probably underdogs in all their remaining tournament games.
Butler Bulldogs, 14 to 1 odds ($1 to win $14): Again, awful odds. Butler will not only likely be an underdog in their remaining games, they should be HEAVY underdogs in a couple of them. There's not much value in Butler after they nearly won it all last year, so stay wary of national championship odds when it comes to them.
Va. Commonwealth Rams, 35 to 1 odds ($1 to win $35): An 11 seed from Virginia making an improbable run to the Final Four? It's happened before, hasn't it? Might be worth a small action bet on VCU (this isn't the greatest tournament field, and an upset of Kansas will send these odds plummeting), but nothing more.
Best pick? Go with Kansas, now, before it's too late. Kentucky also has some spark to it, as does Florida and maybe VCU. Avoid UConn, UNC, Arizona and Butler.