Proline bettors solidly behind Wolverines’ NCAA basketball tournament title win

By Canadian Press on April 9, 2026.

The Michigan Wolverines’ second NCAA men’s basketball title was music to the ears of sports bettors.

Michigan defeated the Connecticut Huskies 69-63 in the tournament finale Monday night. While it marked the school’s second hoops title, it was their first since 1989.

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., a solid 75 per cent of Proline bettors backed Michigan to win. Thirty-five per cent of players had UConn to cover the 6.5-point spread while only 25 per cent took the game to go under 144.5 points.

With both the NHL and NBA regular seasons coming to a close, sports bettors are preparing for plenty of playoff action.

Currently, the Colorado Avalanche are the top picks to win the Stanley Cup at 2.5-1 odds, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning (4.5-1) and Carolina Hurricanes (5-1). The top Canadian team is the Edmonton Oilers (14-1), followed by the Ottawa Senators (20-1) and Montreal Canadiens (33-1).

The Winnipeg Jets, who are chasing an NHL playoff berth, are 400-1 longshots to win the Stanley Cup.

Meanwhile in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors are listed as 250-1 picks to win the league title. The Oklahoma City Thunder is the solid 1.25-1 choice to defend its league championship.

In both sports, odds are subject to change.

A Proline retail player won $10,717 on an 11-leg parlay while another earned $1,047 from a $1 wager on an eight-leg NHL parlay.

Another eight-leg NHL parlay earned a digital player $5,341.93 from a $5 wager while a second bettor turned a $30 bet into a $1,433 windfall from a six-leg major-league baseball parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2026.

The Canadian Press