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Villanova opens as biggest favorite in title game since Duke in 2010

No. 1 seed Villanova opened as a 6.5-point favorite over No. 3 seed Michigan in Monday's national championship game.

The Wildcats are the largest favorites in the championship game since Duke was favored by seven over Butler in 2010. Villanova has been favored in every game this season.

By Sunday morning, the line had grown to as high as Villanova -7.5 at some books.

The Wildcats are in the championship game for the second time in three years. They advanced with an impressive 95-79 win over Kansas on Saturday. They won their first five tournament games by an average of 17.6 points per game.

Villanova (35-4) will take on a red-hot Michigan team (33-7) that came from behind in the second half to beat upstart Loyola-Chicago 69-57 on Saturday.

Michigan has won 14 in a row. The Wolverines have been underdogs in nine games this season and went 5-4 straight up in those games.

The over/under for Monday's championship game opened at 143.5 at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, then quickly climbed to 145.5.