Virginia is favorite, Auburn is long shot. Here are the odds heading into Final Four

The Virginia Cavaliers are one of the most successful programs in the country without a national championship to their name. That could very well change in the next week.

Virginia is the new favorite to win the national title after becoming the only No. 1 seed to qualify for the Final Four. The Cavaliers needed overtime to beat the No. 3-seed Purdue Boilermakers 80-75 in the Elite Eight on Saturday, but they head to Minneapolis, Minnesota, after the fellow No. 1-seed Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels and Gonzaga Bulldogs all lost on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia is a +150 favorite to hoist the national championship trophy in BetOnline’s odds and the No. 2-seed Michigan State Spartans are close behind at +150 after they beat Duke, 68-67, on Sunday in the Elite Eight. The No. 3-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders check in at +450 and the No. 5-seed Auburn Tigers round out the list of semifinalists as a +500 long shot.

A title game between the Cavaliers and Michigan State is the most likely way to cap off March Madness as both are favored heading into Saturday’s semifinals.

Virginia enters the weekend as a 5 1/2-point favorite over Auburn, while the Spartans are a three-point favorite on Texas Tech.

The Cavaliers would be one-point favorite against Michigan State and a 3 1/2-point favorite against the Red Raiders. The Spartans would go into a final against the Tigers favored by four and Texas Tech would go into a championship game against Auburn favored by 1 1/2 points.

New odds aren’t yet available for Final Four Most Outstanding Player, but two of Virginia All-Americans should rank high. Forward De’Andre Hunter and All-American guard Kyle Guy both went into the Sweet 16 with +1,000 odds at Bovada, as did Michigan State All-American guard Cassius Winston.

This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 3:29 PM.