Sports bettors have eyes on St. Peter’s as men’s basketball teams advances in NCAA tourney

Anyone who follows sports knows that it was a longshot for the St. Peter’s men’s basketball team to win any NCAA games, let alone two.

News 12 Staff

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Mar 23, 2022, 2:46 AM

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Updated 1,004 days ago

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Anyone who follows sports knows that it was a longshot for the St. Peter’s men’s basketball team to win any NCAA games, let alone two.

But sports betting expert Johnny Avello says it is possible for the team to go all the way.

Avello is the director of Race and Sports Operations at DraftKings, and a member of the Sports Betting Hall of Fame.

He says that when the tournament began, the Peacocks has a 5,000 to 1 chance of winning the tournament. Now the odds are closer to 500 to 1. But the stats don’t mean that fans won’t bet on the team with their money or their hearts.

“St. Peter’s hasn't captured the hearts of just people in New Jersey. They've captured the hearts of the country. When a team like this wins two games in the tournament - not expected to win any 18-point underdog in in the first game. Believe me, there's a lot of people out there who are St. Peters fans now,” Avello says.

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He says this year’s March Madness tournament is bigger than the Super Bowl when it comes to dollars bets.

And a reminder: It is illegal to bet on New Jersey college teams while in the state of New Jersey. Anyone who wants to place bets on St. Peter’s will have to leave the state to do so.