March Madness 2025 betting, lines, odds: One bettor at BetMGM would win $1.75 million if Duke wins NCAA tournament

It's no surprise Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils are a popular public wager to win March Madness this season. After all, Duke is the consensus favorite to win the national championship at sportsbooks — and the current +325 co-favorite with Florida at BetMGM — and the team with the most wagers and total dollars wagered at multiple sportsbooks to cut down the nets.

But that liability just grew a little bit higher for BetMGM, as it reported Thursday morning that one bettor wagered $500,000 on Duke to win the 2025 title at +350 odds. The bet would win $1.75 million if Flagg & Co. end up winning it all.

[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to $50K]

"Duke is our biggest liability for the championship by a decent margin," Seamus Magee, a BetMGM college basketball trader, told Yahoo Sports in a text message on Thursday morning. "UNC has also taken quite a bit of action off their play-in game the other night."

Duke now has 13.8% of all tickets (most among NCAA tournament teams) and a staggering 37% of the overall dollars wagered (most) in the national championship futures pool at BetMGM. Florida is second in total wagers (8.9%) and overall dollars wagered (11.2%) at BetMGM, including a $100,000 wager at +900 odds. However, Michigan State (25-1) and St. John's (25-1) are the sportsbooks' next biggest liabilities.

No. 1 Duke opens its tournament on 2:50 p.m. ET Friday against No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary's. The Blue Devils are a 32.5-point favorite.

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