NCAA Tournament round-robin underdog moneyline parlay

We've been responsible and proper with our lead-up coverage of the NCAA Tournament, breaking down our tourney best bets by region. The South, East, West, and Midwest have all been accounted for, with individual plays for the first round, bets we hope to make in the second round, and the best value for a regional bet.

Now it's time to put the "Madness" in March.

The NCAA didn't trademark its signature event "March Everything Went According To Plan-ness," so how can we maximize our fun if and when things go off the rails in the first round? How about a round-robin underdog moneyline parlay?

How it works

We parlay five underdogs we like against the spread in 10 different three-team parlays. Using every combination of a three-team parlay is called a round robin. We'll use a total of 1.1 units to make 11 different bets: 10 three-team parlays and one five-team parlay, each .1 unit. You'll likely double your money if three teams pull off the upset. If four teams win, you're connecting on four separate parlays and will be very pleased with the return. If all five teams win, you'll be diving into a silo of gold doubloons like a young Scrooge McDuck.

Who to play

Normally, we break down how and why each team can upset a better opponent, but we've mostly done that in our previews for Thursday and Friday. Instead, we'll mostly deal with these teams as a collective.

We can talk about the ample history of upsets in the NCAA Tournament, but the vast majority of first-round shockers happen to teams that weren't necessarily expected to win the tournament anyway - essentially resulting in a shoulder shrug when the higher seed is eliminated. That's the general theme for these plays: Would teams losing to these double-digit seeds really blow up your bracket?

Furman (+210)

Virginia won't be missed if it's removed from the bracket early, and while the Cavaliers will likely dictate the pace, that pace will lead to a low-scoring, tight game that Furman's 3-point shooting can win.

Louisiana (+500)

Even before Tennessee lost point guard Zakai Zeigler for the season, college hoops aficionados were losing faith in the Volunteers after they showed vulnerability at home to teams like Kentucky and Missouri. If another Rick Barnes season ends in ignominious fashion, will anyone be surprised?

Kennesaw State (+550)

Sean Miller has had more success than Barnes, but Xavier's defense makes it vulnerable. While Kennesaw State is something of an upstart, the fact it got through Liberty - a perennial upset hunter - means it could be a problem for a Musketeers team that probably isn't going far in many brackets.

North Carolina State (+190)

While we won't miss Creighton if it exits early, this wager is more about the high-variance nature of NC State. We don't want anything to do with the Wolfpack as favorites, but electric guards Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner could decide to dominate the Bluejays.

Montana State (+320)

A 16-seed isn't winning this year, and a 15-seed probably isn't either, so we'll say the ceiling for big upsets is a 14-seed over a 3-seed. If not Xavier, Kansas State is the best candidate, as it's favored by just 8.5 points. We discussed in our East Region preview why the spread is a good bet; if we get our close game, maybe Montana State can surprise with the outright win.

Here's how the odds look for Round 1:

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.