St. Peter’s Peacocks: The Unexpected Wagons
St. Peter’s Celebrating after a Win in the Ncaa tournament
St. Peter’s University Peacocks, a small Jesuit university located in Jersey City, New Jersey, was never supposed to make the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Against all odds, they won the MAAC against Monmouth University to secure one of the four 15 seeds within the tournament. When they were matched against the number two seed, the University of Kentucky, it was sure to be a first-round exit. UK was one of the favorites to win the whole tournament. Only nine 15 seeds have ever beaten a two seed. With St. Peter’s ranking 165th in points scored, 228th in free throw percentage, and a whopping 255th in field goal percentage, it looked like they were doomed. All of the money was on Kentucky… and for good reason. However, the sportsbooks throughout the nation took one of their biggest hits this year from the small Jesuit school in Jersey City. The Peacocks would make the deepest run that any 15 seed ever has in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
St. Peter’s star doug edert cutting down a net after winning maac championship
In St. Peter’s first matchup, their line to cover was at +18 with a moneyline set at +1400. Little did we know, this was an incredible value. Sportsbooks thought this game was going to be a blowout. There was no doubt that Kentucky would win but by how much? The 7th ranked team in the whole country, Kentucky, was in 31.9% of the population's Final Four of the 17.35 million ESPN Bracket Challenge brackets made. When the UK vs. St. Peter’s game started… something came clear to many; it was not going to be an easy 2 vs. 15 seed matchup. Kentucky and St. Peter’s were tied even by halftime at 37 apiece. The Peacocks forced overtime with the UK Wildcats, and pulled away with an 85-79 victory! How did they do it? St. Peter’s used their biggest weapon to its advantage, defense. By holding their opponents to 38.7% on 2-pointers and 27.1% from beyond the arc, they held the title of the second-best defense in effective field goal percentage. Not only did St. Peter’s smash the cover total, but the ML hit! It was one of the biggest spread covers on the day as well as the least odds to cash when looking at the moneyline.
Kentucky players coping after losing to St. peter’s in the round of 64
Once again, St. Peter’s was given no respect by the sportsbooks. With a line projected at +8.5 and a moneyline at +310, Murray St. was still looked at as the favorite (-450 ML). However, the St. Peter’s hype caught the attention of sportsbooks. Specials were run such as DraftKings boosting St. Peter’s ML to +500. Once again the totals smacked. St. Peter’s won the game outright 70-60. People all over social media talked about the Peacocks. They were a wagon in terms of the spread as well as the moneyline. Their defense looked unbreakable. They would be the third-ever team to advance to the Sweet 16. They entered the tournament at +10000 odds to make the Sweet 16 and it cashed…
Next up comes one of the hottest teams that entered the tournament, the Purdue Boilermakers. After only losing to Iowa in the Big 10 Championship game, Purdue seemed like they would put a stop to St. Peter’s historic run. No 15 seed has ever made the Elite Eight. However, St. Peter’s bettors did have a good omen with them coming from the two other 15 seeds to ever make the Sweet 16, FGCU and Oral Roberts. Both of these teams covered their spreads but lost. The line for the Peacocks opened at +13 to cover with a +650 moneyline. Purdue was on fire, but they were 2-8-2 in their last 12 games ATS (Against The Spread). Ultimately, the signs to bet on St. Peters were confirmed true. They won outright 67-64 vs. the Boilermakers, making them the first 15 seed to ever make it to the Elite Eight. At the start of the tournament, their odds to make the Elite Eight were 40-1.
With history made, one team stood in the way of a legacy… The University of North Carolina. UNC was scorching the competition within the tournament. Beating the number one seed Baylor while scoring 93 points is not a team that should be taken for granted. This was unknown waters for not only the Peacocks, but for bettors. There has never been a 15 seed to make the Elite Eight. They were the team that was never supposed to make it. The line of +8 to cover at +310 ML was established, but both sadly failed to cash. The historic run for the St. Peter’s University Peacocks was over but was applauded for making the biggest run any 15 seed has ever accomplished. Bigger than that, they left a betting legacy that would be remembered forever.
The projection on the sportsbooks for St. Peter’s to make the Final Foul was 60-1. To make the Championship game, they were at 100-1 and 200-1 odds to win the whole thing. With how unrealistic that seems, sportsbooks all over were terrified of this outcome. The largest ticket on St. Peter’s future bet that could be found was $4,000 for the Peacocks to win the national title, which would’ve racked this bettor in a net $800,000. This bet was placed through BetMGM. Multiple smaller bets were placed like this for insane odds. According to Jason Scott, BetMGM's vice president of trading, the Peacocks winning the championship would cause the largest loss on a futures market -- in any sport -- in company history. This could have been historic. The odds were in the people and the common people of the world, the bettors, had a chance to win. This would have been the outcome for sportsbooks like BetMGM, DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel, etc. St. Peter’s gave hope to bettors throughout March Madness. Despite their bracket-busting abilities, the Peacocks were the best-valued team, in terms of betting, in the NCAA Tournament. Although the total amount is not known, people from all over cashed on St. Peter’s and we will remember them forever.
