Written by :
Published on :
It’s that time of year again, 68 teams and tens of millions of brackets. In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it seems as if one region is (at least on paper) tougher than the others. This season, it could well be the East, featuring the top-ranked, top-seeded and defending national champion Connecticut Huskies.
UConn is 31-3, winners of seven games in a row and fresh off taking down the Big East tourney. There are some other solid teams in this region as well, including the Big 12 postseason- winning Iowa St. Cyclones (27-7), Big Ten tournament-champion Illinois Fighting Illini (26-8) and Auburn Tigers (27-7), winners of the Southeastern Conference tournament. Obviously, each team comes in with a ton of momentum.
Here’s a look at the odds to win the East, along with some predictions about what will occur…
Huskies are Even-Steven
The defending national-champion Connecticut Huskies are the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, and thus big favorites to win their region. UConn is a paltry even-money to advance to the Final Four. It’s not the norm to find such puny odds.
UConn should easily dispose of Stetson in the opening round, 26½-point favorite Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, according to NCAA tournament odds.
Do not sleep on the crew out of Ames, the second-seeded Iowa St. Cyclones are 4-1 (+400) second choice. ISU opposes South Dakota St. Thursday in Omaha.
Auburn is at 9-2 (+450) to win the region, but the No. 4 seed they would (theoretically) have an Elite Eight with UConn. Auburn is facing Ivy League-winning Yale Friday in Spokane, WA.
Illinois, as the No. 3 seed in the region, is at 7-1 (+700) to take the East, as per NCAA men’s tournament region odds. The Fighting Illini begin with Morehead St. Friday in Omaha. Illinois hasn’t exactly distinguished itself in past tourneys.
Here/s a look at the rest of the odds in this region…
- Brigham Young (12-1) +1200
- San Diego St. (18-1) +1800
- Washington St. (28-1) +2800
- Florida Atlantic (33-1) +3300
- Drake (40-1) +4000
- Northwestern (40-1) +4000
- Duquesne (100-1) +10000
- Yale (100-1) +10000
- Alabama-Birmingham (100-1) +10000
- Morehead St. (200-1) +20000
- South Dakota St. (250-1) +25000
- Stetson (250-1) +25000
Form Not Perfect?
All of the top teams in this region are very good, so don’t expect any issues in the opening couple of rounds. Of course, that means giving either lots of points or laying lots of cash.
The Alabama-Birmingham Blazers (12-seed) and No. 10 Drake Bulldogs are two teams worthy of early consideration. UAB will oppose the Aztecs of San Diego St. (national finalist last season) in Round 1 at Spokane, while Drake sees the Washington St. Cougars in Omaha.
Other than perhaps some early inroads by UAB and/or Drake, expect the expected in the East.
Moving it Along
So, after review, expect the Drake Bulldogs to be the only prevailing opening-round lower seed.
That will lead to second-round pairings of UConn/Florida Atlantic and Auburn/San Diego St.
We are fans of the Fighting Illini, thus we see Illinois advancing to the Sweet 16 with a big win over BYU. Meanwhile, Iowa St. is going to oust in-state foe Drake.
It’s very rare to see all four seeds in the Sweet 16, but that’s going to be the outcome here. Once that happens, UConn will find a way to get past Auburn, while Illinois slips past ISU.
There is a reason UConn is a solid favorite to win the East. They’re a deep team that’s both balanced and battle-tested. Expect the Huskies to move their bandwagon to suburban Phoenix (Glendale) with a shot at defending the title.
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
