With a lack of upsets in the opening rounds the Arkansas Razorbacks enter the Sweet 16 as the only double digit seed, but they are not your typical Cinderella. Arkansas is loaded with talent and has a head coach in John Calipari who has shown he knows what it takes to win this time of year.
The Razorbacks are currently last in odds to win it all at +12000 (next closest is Michigan/Purdue/Ole Miss +7500) and the least favorite to make it into the Final Four at +1000, via FanDuel Sportsbook. This underdog role is one they have become accustomed to this season and especially as of late. After starting the year 11-7 and 0-5 in SEC play, chances of them making the NCAA Tournament were not looking good. Despite losing top players in Adou Thiero and Boogie Fland, who both will be available for the Sweet 16, they ended the year strong and in the dance.
John Calipari led to his team to first and second round wins as underdogs of 4.5 vs Kansas and 7.5 vs St. John’s to get them to this point where they are once again dogs. This time it is against Texas Tech with a spread of 5.5 points and the Razorbacks being +198 to win outright.
They have been a betting underdog 16 times this season with a record of 6-10 SU and 9-7 ATS. Of note though is a 2-7 record in games where they are dogs of 5.5 or less points like they are against the Red Raiders. The Razorbacks national championship odds have been all over the place this season as they began the year tied for 14th favorite at +4000 and entered the tournament with odds of +30000.
Despite Arkansas having the longest odds to win it all, Arizona is the biggest underdog in the Sweet 16 games as they take on Duke who is a 9.5 point favorite. This speaks to the high praise the sportsbooks are giving to the Blue Devils as the Wildcats are the ninth favorite to be national champions (+3900) and have better odds than BYU to make it out of the east region.
The Sweet 16 is known as the round where Cinderellas die off, but with no real surprise teams remaining anything can happen and hungry dogs always run faster.