Mattress Mack has made another big bet on a hometown team.
Caesars Sportsbook said Wednesday afternoon that Houston entrepreneur Jim McIngvale had placed a $1 million bet on the Houston Cougars to win the men’s NCAA tournament. McIngvale, a well-known mattress and furniture store owner, got the Cougars at +750, meaning he’d win $7.5 million if Houston won the NCAA tournament.
The Cougars are the No. 3 favorite to win the NCAA tournament at BetMGM. Defending national champion UConn is the favorite at +500, while Purdue is slightly ahead of Houston at +700. Those three teams are the only three with odds better than 10-1. Arizona is the No. 4 favorite at +1000.
Houston is currently ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and is in first place in its first season in the Big 12. The Cougars have a one-game lead in the loss column over Iowa State and a three-game lead over Kansas and Baylor in what’s arguably the toughest conference in college basketball.
Mattress Mack is one of the most well-known sports bettors in the country and he has good business reasons for wagering on local teams. In 2021, he bet heavily on the Houston Astros to win the World Series against the Atlanta Braves. The bets came as his stores ran a promotion that would refund mattress buyers if the Astros won the World Series.
The Astros did not win the World Series. The Braves took home the title.
McIngvale went even bigger for the Super Bowl in 2022. He bet $5 million on the Bengals to beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI in the largest bet in history at a regulated sportsbook in the United States. The money line bet had odds of +170 and, as you likely know, did not hit as the Rams won the game.
