NCAA tournament 2018: Most Outstanding Player award odds

Jalen Brunson is the heavy favorite to win the coveted award after Monday’s showdown between Villanova and Michigan.

The Michigan Wolverines and Villanova Wildcats will wrap up the NCAA tournament with the national championship game on Monday. It’s set to go down at 9:20 p.m. ET from the Alamodome in San Antonio, and it’s expected to be a very close game.

Villanova is considered a slight favorite, and for good reason: they’ve just looked better and better every game they’ve played in the postseason. The lines from various sportsbooks have shifted here and there, but not a whole lot when it comes to the overall victory.

But there are more things to bet on than just the outright winner. In addition to a slew of prop bets surrounding who will make the first point, who will foul first, who will hit the first three and other things of that nature, the big one is who will win the coveted Most Outstanding Player (MOP) award.

When the betting lines opened, via Bovada.lv, Jalen Brunson of Villanova was the favorite at +240. Since then, he’s moved to -155, which means he’s an even bigger favorite at this point. It’s an interesting situation though, as neither team has one hugely dominant, game-destroying star, but instead have several quality players throughout the lineup.

In the most recent odds, Moritz Wagner of Michigan is next at +400. Mikal Bridges of Villanova comes in next at +500. There are a few more names listed, with the biggest longshot you can bet on being Duncan Robinson of Michigan at +2500. When the lines opened, Phil Booth of Villanova was +10,000, but he’s since been removed.

The current odds, at the time of writing, are below:

Jalen Brunson (Villanova) -155
Moritz Wagner (Michigan) +400
Mikal Bridges (Villanova) +500
Charles Matthews (Michigan) +700
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (Michigan) +1200
Omari Spellman (Villanova) +1400
Eric Paschall (Villanova) +1500
Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova) +1600
Duncan Robinson (Michigan) +2500

While Brunson is the “safe” bet, Villanova does have some other players who can take over a game in a big moment. Eric Paschall did so when he put up 24 points in the Final Four, and at +1500, he could be the most intriguing option for bettors.