Three weeks of March Madness await as first-round play in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off Thursday.
On Selection Sunday, we took a look the odds-on favorites to win the national championship on April 7. And now we train the spotlight on the bracket’s four regions and assess the favorites and dark horses to reach the Final Four in San Antonio.
Tourney betting odds are posted at the leading online sportsbooks. And new customers taking advantage of the operators’ welcome promo offers can currently collect up to a combined $6,450 in bonuses.
So let’s dig into the South, West, East and Midwest brackets. The odds listed are top sportsbook-consensus moneylines as of Tuesday, prior to the First Four games in Dayton.
March Madness odds: South Region preview
Favorites and odds: 1 (seed). Auburn -110, 2. Michigan State +480, 3. Iowa State +600, 4. Texas A&M +1450, 8. Louisville +1975
Dark horse: 5. Michigan +2125. The Big Ten-tournament champions are under seeded as a No. 5, and two of the region’s top seeds have either struggled down the stretch (Auburn) or enter the bracket at less than full health (Iowa State).
Final Four pick: We’ll go with the Wolverines’ bitter rival Michigan State. The Spartans dominated as the Big Ten regular season champs at 17-3 and boast one of their best scoring attacks (78.2 points per game) in years while still dominating on the glass (fifth best nationally with a plus-9.0 average rebound differential). Coach Tom Izzo has his team in the Big Dance for the 27th straight season, and Sparty is due for a return trip to the national semifinals.
March Madness odds: West Region preview
Favorites and odds: 1. Florida -120, 3. Texas Tech +525, 2. St. John’s +550, 4. Maryland +875, 7. Kansas +1625
Dark horse: 8. UConn +2225. When picking a regional long shot, it’s always advisable to go with the two-time defending national champ. Sure, coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies are down this year at 23-10, particularly defensively, but they still pack plenty of punch with guru Ken Pomeroy’s 14th-most efficient offense on the season.
Final Four pick: We’re riding with top-seeded Florida. The SEC tourney champs go nine deep with a top-10-ranked offense and defense. And although 39-year-old coach Todd Golden has much to prove with a 0-2 career Big Dance record, the Gators went 5-1 against fellow top-8 tourney seeds — and 17-4 overall against SEC foes — this season, including road victories at Auburn and Alabama in February.
March Madness odds: East Region preview
Favorites and odds: 1. Duke -130, 2. Alabama +425, 4. Arizona +813, 3. Wisconsin +990, 6. BYU +1825
Dark horse: 7. Saint Mary’s +2325. There’s not much to select from outside of the region's five top-14 Bart Torvik teams, but we’ll go with the experienced Gaels who bring a top-10-ranked defense into the Dance.
Final Four pick: We’re banking on Wood Award-favorite Cooper Flagg being able to return from his ACC tournament ankle injury to lift Duke. Even without the stud freshman, the Blue Devils were able to win the tourney, and they enter the Big Dance ranked atop the Pomeroy and NCAA NET rankings with a top-four offense and defense.
March Madness odds: Midwest Region preview
Favorites and odds: 1. Houston +115, 2. Tennessee +365, 8. Gonzaga +890, 3. Kentucky +965, 6. Illinois +1225
Dark horse: 5. Clemson +1375. The Tigers made it to the Elite Eight as a 6-seed last March, and currently feature an offense and defense both ranked in the top 21 in the Bart Torvik efficiency ratings.
Final Four pick: This is the season Tennessee breaks through and secures the program’s first Final Four berth in 28 NCAA tourney appearances. It will take much to get past a talented Houston squad in the Midwest, but the experienced Vols feature the nation’s third-most-efficient defense and showed their ample upside this season in going 16-7 against NCAA tourney qualifiers, including victories over fellow SEC heavyweights Florida, Auburn and Alabama since Feb. 1.