The Prairie View A&M Panthers won the program’s first March Madness game, beating Lehigh 67-55 in a First Four game Wednesday night. Their reward? Friday’s date with the No. 1 seed Florida Gators.
And the oddsmakers didn’t give them much of a chance.
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Florida opens as a 35.5-point favorite against Prairie View A&M on BetMGM, which would be the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game in 25 years if the score holds. Some sportsbooks have odds on the Panthers at 80-1 for an upset.
The last time the gap was that big was in 1999, when No. 1 Duke faced off against Florida A&M, finishing with a 46.5-point advantage. The Blue Devils won 99-58 but didn’t make up for the huge numbers.
The 2026 NCAA Tournament has much higher point differentials than usual, with every 1 seed scoring at least 27.5 points, every 2 seeds scoring at least 20 points, and every 3 seeds scoring at least 15.5 points — including Thursday night’s game against No. 14 Penn State, which No. 3 Illinois faced as a record 25.5-point favorite.
Last year, no No. 4 seed lost in the first round, and only one double-digit seed (No. 10 Arkansas) made it to the Sweet 16.