Our NCAA Tournament picks continue this weekend with a look at the odds to win the Final Four MVP. There are a slew of big time players that are going to be in the running for one of the most illustrious individual prizes in college basketball, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are making our Final Four predictions on the players to watch.

We said way back at the beginning of this tournament that the man we were going to be watching out for was the Kentucky Wildcats’ Anthony Davis (Odds To Win NCAA Tournament MVP: 3 to 1 @ SportBet Sportsbook). Davis has consistently been the man to watch out for that Kentucky always feeds the ball to, and against a very athletic Baylor Bears outfit last week in the Elite 8, he had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocked shots. There isn’t a bigger defensive force in the country than this one, and it is going to be hard to ignore a man that has this much dominance on both sides of the ball. If Kentucky is to win the National Championship, save for perhaps Doron Lamb, it is going to be hard to justify picking any of the other players to win the Final Four MVP.

That being said, we were happy to know at the beginning of this tournament that we were also on the bandwagon of the Kansas Jayhawks’ Thomas Robinson (NCAA Tournament MVP Odds: 8 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook). His odds have been cut in half now that the Jayhawks are here in the Final Four, but there is no doubt that Robinson and his double-double motor are going to be candidates for this award as long as they win it all. Tyshawn Taylor might make for an interesting pick as well, knowing that he was finally able to put together a great game in the Elite 8, but in the end, there probably won’t be a game in the Final Four in which Robinson goes for less than 15 and 10, and if that turns out to be the case, it is going to be hard to ignore him as the MOP of the tourney.

There are a number of players that are down the line that we never really saw coming as potential Final Four MVPs as well. The Ohio State Buckeyes aren’t a huge shock to be in this position, but instead of backing Jared Sullinger, we are going to take a very close look at William Buford (March Madness MVP Odds: 18 to 1 @ SportBet Sportsbook). Thus far in the tourney, Buford has been a bit inconsistent. He only had four points against the Cincinnati Bearcats, and he only has one game with more than 13 points in the tournament, that coming in the first round against the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds. Buford is the best three-point shooter on the team though, and he has consistently averaged right around 14 points per game for his entire career. This is a bad draw down the stretch for the Buckeyes, as they have to take on two teams one way or the other that have a lot of big time bigs on the defensive side of the court, and if they are going to win it all, the guards are going to have to make the difference. We don’t see OSU beating Kansas without a huge game out of Buford of at least 20 points, and that would make him a tremendous MVP candidate should the Buckeyes cut down the nets on Monday night.

Not many are giving the Louisville Cardinals all that much of a chance to win the whole enchilada this year, but if they do, you know that Russ Smith (Odds To Win March Madness MVP: 20 to 1 @ SportBet Sportsbook) is going to have to be the man that does the most damage. When you look at the averages for Smith this year, nothing is all that impressive. He put up just 11.6 points, 2.5 boards, and 2.0 assists per game. He is a great defensive player, averaging over two steals per game as well. However, what you notice are the big games that he tends to explode for every now and again. In just 22 minutes against the Florida Gators, Smith had 19 points off of the bench, and it was the third straight game in which he scored double digits in spite of the fact that he hasn’t played more than 23 minutes in the entire tourney. Smith played for 27 minutes against Kentucky the first time around, and he scored 30 of the team’s 62 points. It’s going to come in streaks for Smith, and he is really the only man in the Final Four that we can see coming off of the bench and winning the Final Four MVP award.

2012 March Madness Final Four MVP Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 3/30/12):
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Anthony Davis (Kentucky) 3 to 1
Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) 6.50 to 1
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky) 6.50 to 1
Thomas Robinson (Kansas) 8 to 1
Doron Lamb (Kentucky) 14 to 1
Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas) 15 to 1
Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) 18 to 1
William Buford (Ohio State) 18 to 1
Darius Miller (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Gorgui Dieng (Louisville) 20 to 1
Lenzelle Smith Jr. (Ohio state) 20 to 1
Marquis Teague (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Russ Smith (Louisville) 20 to 1
Terrence Jones (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Peyton Siva (Louisville) 25 to 1
Aaron Craft (Ohio State) 28 to 1
Kyle Kuric (Louisville) 35 to 1
Jeff Withey (Kansas) 40 to 1
Elijah Johnson (Kansas) 50 to 1
Travis Releford (Kansas) 50 to 1

2012 NCAA Tournament MVP Odds @ BetUS Sportsbook (as of 3/30/12):
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Anthony Davis (Kentucky) 2 to 1
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky) 5 to 1
Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) 6 to 1
Thomas Robinson (Kansas) 8 to 1
Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) 9 to 1
Doron Lamb (Kentucky) 15 to 1
Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas) 15 to 1
William Buford (Ohio State) 15 to 1
Peyton Siva (Louisville) 18 to 1
Gorgui Dieng (Louisville) 20 to 1
Marquis Teague (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Terrence Jones (Kentucky) 20 to 1
Kyle Kuric (Louisville) 25 to 1
Chane Behanan (Louisville) 35 to 1

BetUS Sportsbook is all set for the biggest college basketball betting game of the year when the Duke Blue Devils and the Butler Bulldogs tip it off on Monday night! Here at Bankroll Sports, we’re taking a look at the final odds for the Final Four MVP award, which will be handed out at the conclusion of tonight’s game.

Nolan Smith, Duke Blue Devils

Why He Could Win: He has been the most consistent players for the Blue Devils in this tournament. Smith has averaged 18.6 points per game in the dance, making him one of the top scorers in this entire field of 65. You also know that unless he gets injured or into some serious foul trouble that he isn’t leaving the court for more than a minute or two at a time, so Smith will certainly have the chance to take all of the shots he needs.

Why He Might Not Win: Because he’s sort of the forgotten Blue Devil. Smith probably isn’t the best pure scorer on this team, nor is he the best rebounder or assists man. Even when he is leading the team in scoring for a game, the spotlight still often shines on either G Jon Scheyer or F Kyle Singler if either one of those two is having a solid night.

The Final Word: You can find Smith at +250 at BetUS Sportsbook to win MVP honors, which makes him the favorite to take down the award. However, unlike for Scheyer or Singler, it’s going to take a truly amazing effort for Smith to steal those votes that will go to one of the other two Dookies in the event that either one has a comparable game. Look elsewhere.

Jon Scheyer, Duke Blue Devils

Why He Could Win: He’s the leader of a senior-laden team, and he’s also the squad’s top scorer. Scheyer went off for 23 on West Virginia on Saturday night, making him the leader at this point in terms of scoring in the Final Four. If there’s a man that can take over any game single handedly from the outside, Scheyer is your guy, and if he can catch fire, Butler needs to look out. The senior can go on a 12-0 run all by himself very, very quickly.

Why He Might Not Win: Scheyer’s biggest problem is that he is notoriously inconsistent. Ultimately in most games, he gets his points and his assists, but sometimes, it takes awhile to get on the stat sheet. That can’t happen if he hopes to lead his team to victory and take down the MVP title.

The Final Word: Scheyer has been lined at +300 at BetUS Sportsbook to win the MVP award. In our eyes, this is the best bang for your buck. With another 20+ point effort, Scheyer will most likely be the highest scorer in the Final Four, and normally speaking, if you’re the Final Four’s leading point man and your team wins it all, you’re going to be the winner. Considering backing Scheyer at decent odds.

Gordon Hayward, Butler Bulldogs

Why He Could Win: It seems like a foregone conclusion that Hayward is winning the MVP award for the Bulldogs in the event that they win this game. He’s also the only player on the court that has any hope of winning the honors should his team lose. Hayward has averaged 16.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in the dance to this point, and his best three games have come against his hardest three opponents in Syracuse, Kansas State, and Michigan State. If there’s any hope of beating the Dookies, Hayward is going to have to play like an MVP.

Why He Might Not Win: Simply put, Butler probably isn’t winning this game. That would almost certainly shut any chances out of Hayward grabbing this award.

The Final Word: Hayward is the top Bulldog on the board at +300 at BetUS Sportsbook to win MVP honors. However, think about this one carefully before placing this bet. You can also get Butler at +290 on the moneyline in this game. If we reasonably assess that Howard isn’t winning this award without the Bulldogs winning the contest, you’re a lot better off passing on Hayward on this prop and taking the Horizon League champs to win the title instead just in case he gets hurt or someone else goes absolutely crazy.

Kyle Singler, Duke Blue Devils

Why He Could Win: The media loves a good story. After having the worst game of his career against Baylor in the Elite 8 by going 0/10 from the field and 0/5 from downtown and only scoring five points, Singler bounced back in the Final Four by scoring 21 points and bringing down nine boards in one of the statistically best games of his season. Just like Smith and Scheyer, Singler has the ability to score and score in bunches, as demonstrated by his nearly 18 points per game average in ’09-’10.

Why He Might Not Win: It’s hard to overlook that goose egg that he put up against Baylor. Even though that shouldn’t factor in to whether or not Singler wins this award, as a voter, it’s hard to look at Singler’s body of work in the dance and really say that he deserves any sort of MVP Award, especially when Smith has been so great over this whole tournament and Scheyer has caught fire in the L/3 rounds.

The Final Word: There’s a reason that Singler is +400 at BetUS Sportsbook to be named Final Four MVP. We don’t necessarily like Singler’s chances any better than Smith’s to capture the award, but we do like his odds a lot better. It seems a lot more likely that the forward can go off for 25+ points and steal the hearts of the voters in the process than that Smith can do the same thing. It’s going to take a huge effort, but if Singler can get it done, he may win this award as the fourth choice on the board.