Following Selection Sunday, the first year of legal sports betting in New Jersey for the NCAA Tournament is underway. To celebrate, PlaySugarHouse.com has announced a unique bracket promotion offering entrants a shot at their share of over $50,000 in payouts. For more information, click here.

Heading into Selection Sunday, Duke (+250), Gonzaga (+550), and Virginia (+600) were the betting favorites to win the National Championship. North Carolina joined those three teams as the final #1 seed in the Tournament, and collectively these #1 seeds are a remarkable 81-44-3 “Against the Spread” (ATS) on the season.

• The most widely bet teams at PlaySugarHouse.com over the course of the season were #1 Duke (17-15 ATS), #2 Michigan (17-14 ATS), #2 Tennessee (15-14-1), #6 Villanova (20-12 ATS), and #1 North Carolina (20-9-3)  showing that this season, the most popular teams have also been good bets
• The most popular game to bet this season was the matchup between Duke and North Carolina on February 20th. The second most popular game was on February 17th between Villanova and St. Johns, two teams with significant fan bases in New Jersey.
• The best team ATS this season, Drake (25-6), did not make the NCAA tournament
• Teams in the tournament with particularly poor ATS numbers are #15 Montana (12-18), #11 Ohio St. (13-19), and #10 Iowa (13-19)
• PlaySugarHouse.com will be offering unique bets throughout the NCAA Tournament, including Zion Williamson prop bets and parlay bets with boosted odds payouts

“We are pleased to give New Jersey residents and visitors in the state their first chance to legally bet on the NCAA Tournament,” said  Mattias Stetz, COO, Rush Street Interactive.  “We’re especially excited to introduce our free to play March Mania bracket promotion, which will pay out entrants on each correct bracket pick, totaling over $50,000 in prizes over the course of the tournament.”