Duke the South Favorite with Sweet 16 on Tap

The Duke Blue Devils began this year’s NCAA Tournament as the top seed in the South, and heading into this week’s Sweet 16 round they are still the Bovada odds-on favorite at 5/4 to make their way through this region to the Final Four.

Duke will first have to get by No. 5 Utah as a 6-point favorite this Friday night in the first of two regional semifinal matchups. No. 2 Gonzaga will square off against No. 11 UCLA in the other matchup as an 8.5-point favorite. The Bulldogs are 3/2 second-favorites to win the South followed by Utah at 4/1 and the Bruins at 16/1.

The Blue Devils are 15/2 third-favorites to win the national championship at Bovada, while the betting odds for Gonzaga stand at 12/1. Utah (25/1) and UCLA (100/1) are much farther down the list.

The East Region received a complete makeover when both No.1 Villanova and No. 2 Virginia made early exits. No. 3 Oklahoma remains in the fight for the Final Four out of this part of the bracket, but the Sooners are 13/5 second-favorites to win the East. No. 7 Michigan State gets the nod as the 8/5 favorite. These two will actually face one another this Friday night with the Spartans listed as 2.5-point favorites.

No. 8 North Carolina and No. 4 Louisville will square off in the other regional semifinal with the Cardinals favored by three points. Louisville is also a 13/5 second-favorite to win the East with the Wolfpack listed at 5/1 odds.

The tightest battle on the Bovada odds to win a region should come in the West between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Arizona. The Wildcats have the slight edge at 5/6 betting odds while the Badgers are listed as 3/2 second-favorites.

This Thursday Wisconsin will play No. 4 North Carolina is one regional semifinal while Arizona squares off against No. 6 Xavier in the other. The betting odds for that first game remain off the board, while the Wildcats have been listed as 10.5-point favorites over Xavier.

It is still Kentucky vs. The Field at even money odds, while the moneyline on the field stands at -140. The No. 1 Wildcats’ odds to win the Midwest Region are set at 1/4 with the biggest competition coming from the winner of Thursday’s No. 3 Notre Dame versus No. 7 Wichita State matchup.

Both are 7/1 second-favorites to win the region, but the Shockers are slight 1.5-point favorites in this game. Kentucky will face No. 5 West Virginia in the other region semifinal as a 13.5-point favorite.