3/23/99 -- 1:58 AM Final Four Notebook
Heavy favorite: Oddsmakers in Las Vegas aren't taking any chances with Duke's chances of winning a national championship.
The Blue Devils are such prohibitive favorites in Las Vegas sports books that bettors would have to wager $7 for every dollar they could win on Duke winning its last two games.
Odds vary at each sports book, but most have had to make Duke such a big favorite to try to discourage bets on the Blue Devils and get some money bet on the other teams in the Final Four.
``This is one of the biggest favorites we've ever had,'' said Pete Korner, who helps set odds for sports books at Las Vegas Sports Consultants. Korner opened Duke at a 1-3 favorite, but most sports books went well beyond that.
At the Las Vegas Hilton, bettors wanting to put money on Duke on Monday found the Blue Devils a 1-7 favorite.
``We're not getting that many bets on Duke now,'' book manager Chuck Esposito said.
With Duke the heavy favorite, bettors can get 9-2 on Connecticut winning the title, 10-1 on Michigan State and 12-1 on Ohio State at the Hilton.
Duke is listed as an 11 1/2-point favorite in Saturday's semifinal against Michigan State, while Connecticut is a 5 1/2-point favorite against Ohio State.
Lower ratings: Through Sunday's regional finals, CBS had a 6.0 overnight rating and a 13 share, down 3 percent from last year.
``We think we can make up some ground in the Final Four,'' said Mike Aresco, CBS vice president for programming. ``The ratings tell the story of the tournament strength because we've hardly had any buzzer-beaters and some blowouts that really don't happen that often.''
CBS had a 7.8 overnight rating for the four regional finals last weekend, up 1 percent from last year.
The rating is the percentage of TV households in the nation tuned to a program, and each point represents 994,000 homes. The share is the percentage tuned to a program among those televisions on at the time.
Brand gets Robertson Trophy: Elton Brand, the 6-foot-8 sophomore center for top-ranked Duke, was named the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy Monday by the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Brand was named to The Associated Press and USBWA first-team All-America squads and was selected Player of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
He leads Duke in scoring (17.8 points a game) and rebounding (9.6). Brand scored 21 points and had eight rebounds in Duke's 85-64 win against Temple in Sunday's East Region final.
- Tribune wires
More Final Four Stories
|
Final Four Notebook
