The 2026 NCAA tournament continues Sunday with two more exciting matchups, including No. 2 UConn taking on No. 1 Duke.

The first rounds of March Madness saw plenty of favorites win — all 16 favored teams won on Friday for the first time since 1992 — but also its share of upsets (see: Iowa beating No. 1 Florida).

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What’s in store for the Elite Eight?

Below you’ll find the favorite wagers for all the games from our college basketball handicappers — Corbie Craig, Matt Jacob and Matt Russell.

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All odds courtesy of BetMGM.

Best bets for Sunday’s Elite Eight gamesNo. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Michigan (-7.5, 146.5)

Craig: From a boxscore standpoint, Michigan looks like one of the most dominant teams in college basketball and a near lock to reach the Final Four, but their 40-minute performance tells a more volatile story.

There have been multiple instances where the Wolverines have shown vulnerability, including being up just four midway through the second half against Howard, playing tight with Saint Louis and trailing Alabama at halftime. These stretches suggest that while Michigan’s ceiling is elite, the Wolverines’ consistency can waver for extended periods. They’ve been able to overcome this with explosive runs of near-perfect basketball, but relying on those stretches introduces risk, especially against a team capable of disrupting their rhythm.

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Tennessee presents a unique challenge in that regard, with the personnel and style to exploit Michigan’s inconsistencies. They have a capable point guard who can apply pressure to Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKinney, along with the size to match up with Michigan’s frontcourt. Most notably, Tennessee’s elite offensive rebounding could neutralize Michigan’s usual interior advantage and prevent them from finishing defensive possessions.

If Tennessee can control the glass and dictate a more physical, grinding pace, the Volunteers have a legitimate chance to keep the game within reach or even pull off the upset. Given that game script, taking Tennessee +7.5 reflects the expectation that Michigan’s lapses will be significant enough for a disciplined opponent to capitalize.

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Bet: Tennessee +7.5

No. 2 UConn vs. No. 1 Duke (-5.5, 133.5)

Russell: One of the themes of this NCAA tournament is day-to-day injuries, and how they’ve affected the betting market — and the teams themselves. Often we’ve seen teams survive without a player, but only to a point where that absence was too much to overcome as the competition improved. So, it was an outlier result that Caleb Foster, having broken a bone in his foot just three weeks ago, didn’t just play, but had 11 points in 19 turnover-free minutes against St. John’s.

Even with Foster’s surprisingly great comeback performance, Duke still didn’t cover the 6.5-point spread against the Red Storm, further indicating that the Blue Devils’ market rating — built on their season-long resume — might be too high. Outside of a massive 15 minutes against TCU in the second half after Xavier Edmonds got hit with foul trouble, the first half of the ACC tournament semifinal with Clemson and Friday’s second half, Duke has underperformed that rating in every other half of basketball they’ve played, going 3-9 against the spread in each half, and 2-4 ATS in full-game betting this postseason.

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Less than 48 hours after Foster overcame the lingering soreness of the foot injury, will he be able to replicate that production? The other injury concern — Patrick Ngongba — hasn’t been able to get back to his season-long level, as the Duke big man who averaged 22 minutes, 10 points, and almost six rebounds, hasn’t come close to matching those numbers.

The NCAA tournament is designed to make it more difficult the farther you go, and while Duke’s ceiling could be beyond this regional final, UConn is a title contender, with dominant forces on the inside (Tarris Reed Jr.) and the outside (Alex Karaban), and asking the Blue Devils to beat the Huskies by a significant margin isn’t a fair request in what should be another matchup that goes down to the wire.

Bet: UConn +5.5