Odds Favor Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver to Win Most Outstanding Player in 2019 NCAA Tournament

Texas Tech v Michigan State
Texas Tech v Michigan State / Hannah Foslien
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After weeks worth of college basketball games, March Madness has finally left us with one more game to decide who will cut down the nets and be named the 2019 NCAA Tournament Champion.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders will take on the Virginia Cavaliers in the National Championship game on Monday night in what's expected to be a low-scoring affair. However, the national title isn't the only thing on the line Monday, as one player will take home the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player award.

Just yesterday, Michigan State's Cassius Winston was the favorite – but a loss to the Red Raiders in the Final Four and Texas Tech's own Jarrett Culver now leads the pack.

Going from +600 on Saturday, Culver is now the favorite at +170, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Texas Tech guard has leapfrogged three of UVA's starters in Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy and De'Andre Hunter. Jerome went from +410 to +260, while Guy jumped from +550 to +440. Hunter made the least movement, going from +600 to his current odds of +550.

Culver has been fantastic for the Red Raiders in the tournament, averaging 19.2 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per contest. He also put up 29 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in the first round against Northern Kentucky.

Outside of the top four are some longshots to win the award. Texas Tech's Davide Moretti and Matt Mooney both have +1600 odds while their teammate Tariq Owens is +2100. Beyond that are UVA's Kihei Clark and Mamadi Diakite at +4200 and the Red Raiders' Norense Odiase at +4600.

Half of the decision here will most likely come down to which team ultimately wins the National Championship as the Most Outstanding Player award has gone to a player from eventual winner every year since 1984. With a 1.5-point spread in favor of the Cavaliers, the Most Outstanding Player could simply be the competitor that has the best game on Monday night.


New customers will get 40/1 on any of the Final Four teams to win the tournament.


Ian McCafferty is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ian McCafferty also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username itmccaff. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.