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March Madness is upon us, and the South Region bracket features an interesting mix of former national No. 1s, blueblood programs and big-conference contenders that did not win league titles last week.
Below, we look at FanDuel Sportsbook’s NCAA Tournament South Region futures odds and and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.
The Houston Cougars (30-4) and Marquette Golden Eagles (25-9) have the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the South. Both have some injury and/or return-from-injury continuity issues to overcome, so the betting value in this region may come from further down the ballot.
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South Region futures odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 2 p.m. ET.
1 seed: Houston +140 (bet $100 to win $140)
2 seed: Marquette +500 (bet $100 to win $500)
3 seed: Kentucky +700 (bet $100 to win $700)
4 seed: Duke +650 (bet $100 to win $550)
5 seed: Wisconsin +1200 (bet $100 to win $1,200)
6 seed: Texas Tech +1400 (bet $100 to win $1,400)
7 seed: Florida +1400 (bet $100 to win $1,400)
8 seed: Nebraska +2900 (bet $100 to win $2,900)
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9 seed: Texas A&M +3400 (bet $100 to win $3,400)
10 seed-*: Boise State +6000 (bet $100 to win $6,000)
10 seed-*: Colorado +3400 (bet $100 to win $3,400)
11 seed: NC State +4200 (bet $100 to win $4,200)
12 seed: James Madison +7000 (bet $100 to win $7,000)
13 seed: Vermont +23000 (bet $100 to win $23,000)
14 seed: Oakland +25000 (bet $100 to win $25,000)
15 seed: Western Kentucky +25000 (bet $100 to win $25,000)
16 seed: Longwood +25000 (bet $100 to win $25,000)
*-Play in a Wednesday First Four matchup
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South Region expert pick and prediction
Houston Cougars (+140)
Houston got blown out 69-41 by Iowa State in Saturday’s Big 12 championship game. But the Cougars had previously been 6-0 with impressive defensive analytics in neutral-site contests.
UH won 11 in a row before Saturday, and its ball-hawking, shot-swatting defense should travel well just about anywhere in the brackets. Coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougar teams have made 3 straight Sweet 16s, and Houston gets a fair return here (although consider holding off to see if the Cougars drift up toward +160 or so).
Top 25: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
South Region contenders
Kentucky Wildcats (+700)
UK (23-9) had an early exit in the SEC Tournament, but the Wildcats won 7 of 8 games from Feb. 13-March 9, beating a trio of KenPom top-15 squads along the way.
Appropriately enough, Kentucky is the speedy colt in this South Region field. The Wildcats play an up-tempo, high-scoring brand of basketball. They are a relatively young team that appears to have grown since an off-kilter mid-winter stretch that saw the team lose 5 times between Jan. 13-Feb. 10. If UK can be responsible in defending the 3 and keep making improvements on the offensive glass, it will be a value at +500, let alone the current figure.
Wisconsin Badgers (+1200)
UW (22-13) made it to the Big Ten title game before being ousted by Illinois. But the Badgers led that championship game by 9 inside the 15-minute mark before failing to close against an Illini 5 that went 26-of-30 at the foul line.
Wisconsin beat No. 3-ranked Purdue in a Saturday Big Ten semifinal, and the Badgers had played the Boilermakers tough in an earlier loss.
South Region long shots
NC State Wolfpack (+4200)
NC State (22-14) has the hot hand. The Wolfpack beat both Duke and North Carolina en route to winning the ACC Tournament. And that tourney run came after NCSU had lost 4 straight games from Feb. 27-March 9.
North Carolina State has a slew of veteran players and is putting together better defensive performances of late. The Wolfpack are certainly not odds-on favorites but are worth a flier at this level of return.
Colorado Buffaloes (+3400)
Colorado (24-10) is a bit of a live wire. The Buffs will have to earn the 10-seed in a First Four contest (against Boise State) in Dayton, but they have some NBA-type talent and present some value at this number.
The Buffaloes are 8-1 in their last 9 games, and their defense has been considerably improved over that stretch. CU presents a tough at-the-rim and beyond-the-arc challenge for defenses. If Marquette or Kentucky were to falter in Colorado’s section of the South bracket, the Buffs could very well be the team there to pick up the pieces.
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