2023 NCAA Tournament: March Madness Future Odds After Chris Beard Firing

Image ©Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

✍️ Written by :

Ty Bronicel

🗓 Updated :

Aug 23rd 2023

Here’s something you don’t read every day – nor do you ever want to.

A well-known successful, albeit clearly intense NCAA basketball coach who has his team playing well, is immediately suspended by his employer after being arrested on a third-degree felony assault charge for allegedly “strangling, biting, and assaulting his fiancée” in their home.

Good god, no. What?!

Texas Longhorns men’s basketball coach Chris Beard appeared to have his team primed to make a run at the Big 12 tournament title and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament this March.

And then his alleged awful behavior and the subsequent consequences.

The University of Texas correctly made the decision to fire Beard and the fallout will likely continue through the next couple of months with denials and lawsuits and countersuits …

I don’t want to comment anymore about this. It’s terrible to even imagine, but seriously bad behavior went down.

As a very minor note, I was curious to see how the Longhorns would play after Beard was suspended on Dec. 12, 2022, and then subsequently fired, with cause. I wondered … how will those young men react?

Here’s how: The sixth-ranked Longhorns (12-2) have won five of six games since UT assistant Rodney Terry became interim coach. Terry, Beard’s assistant and a former head coach at UTEP and Fresno State, became the acting head coach after Beard’s suspension.

Said University of Texas Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte: “We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court at a time when our team needed it most. We are grateful he will remain the acting head coach for the remainder of the season. We are proud of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, who throughout this difficult time have continued to make us proud to be Longhorns.”

Interestingly, here’s how the last couple of months have affected the Longhorns NCAA championship title odds before and since Beard’s firing.

Now, before we continue, the odds are courtesy of awesome sports sites: BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel. Check out all of the other great gambling options available in your state including, PointsBet and more.

Also, be sure to check out our guide to online casinos, from Michigan to New Jersey. You can place all of your college basketball future bets through OddsSeeker.

If you’re a sports gambling beginner but want to get in on the action, no problem. We’ve got you covered with our two handy cheat sheets: Sports Betting Basics and How to Bet on Sports Online.

Texas Longhorns odds to win the 2023 NCAA Championship:

BetMGM (Jan. 4, 2022, +1400); Jan. 6, 2023 (+2200)

DraftKings (Jan. 4, 2022, +1400); Jan. 6, 2023 (+1800)

FanDuel (Jan. 4, 2022, +4000); Jan. 6, 2023 (+4000)

Obviously, FD never wavered, not ever really believing in Texas, before or after Beard’s inglorious downfall.

Still, the Longhorns remain No. 5 overall in ESPN’s latest BPI, while they’re No. 10 overall in KenPom.

College (ahem) student-athletes tend to roll with whatever these days. These kids will play well no matter what. They just will. Change is simply the norm now (coaches fleeing, teammates transferring, breakups happening, all around). I think the distraction part is gone. Not numb to it, but accustomed to it.

Therefore, a talented Texas will remain a force to be reckoned with, trust me.

It’s an interesting, sad twist but, for what it’s worth, here are the latest odds from FanDuel. Stood its ground but, I’ll tell ya +4000 is worth a bit of a bet – although I still like my preseason pick of Houston – because ya never know these days how a college basketball program will respond in the midst of turmoil. Could respond with a March Madness surprise or two and beyond.