We’ve arrived at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16.
And when play resumes Thursday night in the East and West Regionals, it’ll essentially be the stacked Southeastern Conference, with its record seven Sweet 16 teams, vs. the field.
And among the wide-ranging menu of March Madness odds, you can wager on that exact NCAA championship futures market at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Courtesy of overall tourney-favorite Duke, the lone ACC team remaining, DK as of Wednesday had the nine-team Field listed as a -130 favorite over the SEC at +100. As of late February, weeks before the SEC sent a record 14 teams to the Big Dance, the DK prop odds were: Field -150, SEC +120.
Below is a regional breakdown of the Sweet 16 highlighting the title prospects of the SEC 7.
New customers taking advantage of the welcome promo offers at our top-rated online sports betting sites to bet on March Madness can net up to a combined $6,450 in bonuses.
Below are the current national championship odds …
March Madness odds: Can Alabama derail dominant Duke in East?
The East’s top-seeded Duke (33-3) has posted a tourney-best 33.5-point margin of victory so far in their routs of 16-seed Mount St. Mary’s and 9-seed Baylor.
Duke’s dominance is reflected in respected guru Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency ratings as the Devils remain No. 1 with a +39.00 net rating as the only team with a top-nine offense (No. 1) and defense (No. 4).
As a result, Duke is a favorite to win the East.
Its next challenger will be 4-seed Arizona, which is a hefty 9.5-point underdog in their Thursday regional semifinal matchup in Newark.
Duke’s top threat in the South is expected to be No. 2-seeded Alabama (27-8), which opens play Thursday against 6-seed BYU.
Coach Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide has dispatched 15-seed Robert Morris (90-81) and 7-seed St. Mary’s (80-66) so far.
It’s been a struggle at times, though, for the SEC squad which is looking for a return trip to the Final Four after its debut appearance a season ago. And the Tide’s 29th-ranked defense at kenpom.com remains a major question mark as is leading scorer Mark Sears’ current shooting slump (33 percent from the field over his last four games).
Alabama figures to have its hands full with BYU which averaged 85.5 points in wins over VCU and 3-seed Wisconsin and boasts Pomeroy’s ninth-most efficient offense.
March Madness odds: Top-seeded Florida favored out West
As expected, the SEC tourney-champion Gators (32-4) are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and remain the favorites to win the West — especially after 2-seed St. John’s was bounced in a second-round shocker.
Coach Todd Golden’s team, though, received a major second-round scare from two-time defending-champion UConn before rallying for a 77-75 victory.
All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. (23 ppg in the tourney) leads a deep and talented rotation which ranks third overall at kenpom.com and second offensively.
Still, the Gators are the only Sweet 16 qualifier which has gone 0-2 against the point spread so far as they prepare to face 4-seed Maryland in the South semifinals.
The SEC also boasts the Sweet 16’s lone double-digit seed in West No. 10 Arkansas (22-13), which has upended 7-seed Kansas (79-72) and St. John’s (75-66) to gain the regional semis in coach John Calipari’s first season.
Next up is Friday night’s semifinal matchup against 3-seed Texas Tech.
The Razorbacks’ defensive play has been impressive so far in limiting their two tourney foes to a combined 34.6 field goal percentage and an average of 69 points.
But Arkansas easily is Pomeroy’s lowest-ranked Sweet 16 squad (36th), and notching even one more upset might be the limit for Coach Cal’s overachievers.
March Madness odds: SEC, Big Ten vying for South supremacy
In the South semis, it’s SEC vs. Big Ten: 1-seed Auburn facing 5-seed Michigan and 2-seed Michigan State taking on 6-seed Ole Miss.
Despite entering the Big Bracket with three losses in four games, almost everyone expected Johni Broome and the tourney’s top-overall seed Tigers (30-5) to make it to Atlanta.
Coach Bruce Pearl’s team has taken care of business against 16-seed Alabama State (83-63) and 9-seed Creighton (82-70) but matchups against the Big Ten tourney-champion Wolverines and, possibly, the Big Ten regular season-season-champion Spartans figure to be much tougher.
If seeds hold from there, Auburn would then have to avenge regular season losses to both Florida and Duke in the Final Four to win its first national title.
Meanwhile, coach Chris Beard’s Rebels (24-11) are the South’s semifinal surprise after wins over 11-seed North Carolina (71-64) and 3-seed Iowa State (91-78) — both of which were favored.
Mississippi shot a season-high 58.2 percent from the field in upending Iowa State but even coming close to that figure against Michigan State’s fifth-ranked kenpom defense would be quite the feat.
The Spartans also present a horrible matchup on the glass for the Rebels, the least-proficient rebounding team in the Sweet 16.
March Madness odds: Tennessee, Kentucky meet in Midwest rubber match
The Midwest is the only region where the SEC is guaranteed a spot in the Elite Eight as 2-seed Tennessee (29-7) and 3-seed Kentucky (24-11) meet in one semifinal opposite 1-seed Houston and 4-seed Purdue.
The Volunteers, sitting fifth overall in the Pomeroy ratings on the strength of their third-ranked defense, have beaten 15th-seeded Wofford (77-62) and seventh-seed UCLA (67-58) to reach the Sweet 16 for a third straight season.
Coach Rick Barnes’ Vols are pursuing the first Final Four berth in program history but have the toughest potential route — vs. No. 15 Kentucky and No. 2 Houston — out of its region among the Sweet 16’s seven No. 1 or 2 seeds.
Up first are the Wildcats which swept the home-and-home series this season, winning 78-73 in Knoxville on Jan. 28 and 75-64 in Lexington on Feb. 11.
Kentucky, which has impressed in wins over 14-seed Tory (76-57) and 6-seed Illinois (84-75), connected on 24-of-48 3-point attempts in sweeping Tennessee. Oddsmakers, though, believe the third time will be the charm for the Vols, who are 4.5-point favorites Friday in Indianapolis.
And while Tennessee’s path to San Antonio is tough, the route is even steeper for coach Mark Pope’s Wildcats who would likely have to get past two top-five Pomeroy teams just to make it out of the Midwest.
And then it would likely be top-ranked Duke awaiting in the national semis.
