Wisconsin opens as massive betting favorite in March Madness opener vs. Montana
The Wisconsin Badgers will meet the Montana Grizzlies in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.
The No. 3-seed Badgers are looking for their first March Madness win since 2022. Big-picture, they’re looking to snap a Sweet Sixteen drought that extends back to 2017 — Greg Gard’s first full season as head coach. Wisconsin was most recently a top-three seed in 2022. It defeated No. 14-seed Colgate in the first round before falling to No. 11-seed Iowa State in the round of 32.
No. 14-seed Montana won the Big Sky Tournament earlier this week. The program is making its first March Madness appearance since 2019, plus looking for its first NCAA Tournament victory since making the second round in back-to-back years in 2012-13.
Wisconsin should be a consensus pick to advance to the second round, where it would face the winner of No. 6 BYU and No. 11 VCU. Las Vegas agrees with that sentiment. It has the Badgers as prohibitive favorites in its opening betting line:
Wisconsin vs. Montana Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel
Point Spread: Wisconsin minus-16 1/2, Montana plus-16 1/2
Money Line: Wisconsin minus-2800, Montana plus-1160
Over/Under: 148 1/2
Tip between the Badgers and Grizzlies is set for 1:30 p.m. ET, 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday. Wisconsin will look to bounce back from its Big Ten Tournament title loss to Michigan and ignite an NCAA Tournament run.
