NCAA Tournament Regional Futures

The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will eventually crown four regional champions, which will contend for the national title in Houston. While some of the remaining top seeds have an easy path to the Final Four, others still have a rough road ahead in their respective regional.

In the West, the defending national champion Duke Blue Devils are -150 favorites to claim the regional crown and advance to the Final Four for the 16th time in the program's history. The Blue Devils face the Arizona Wildcats (+900 to win the regional) in the Sweet 16, setting up a possible date with either No. 2 San Diego State (+650) or No. 3 UConn (+325). Duke barely escaped the third round but will have star freshman Kyrie Irving back at nearly full strength this week.

The East is headed up by the Ohio State Buckeyes, who Bodog.com has priced as -140 favorites to win the regional title. Ohio State butts heads with No. 4 Kentucky (+350) and then the winner of the regional semifinal between North Carolina (+275) and Marquette (+1,100). Some claim that the Buckeyes have the toughest road to the Final Four, despite being the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

The Southeast Regional holds the best NCAA wagering value out of the four sides of the bracket. After No. 1 Pitt was bounced in the third round this past weekend, books have tagged No. 4 Wisconsin as a +170 favorite to win the Southeast, despite the fact that No. 2 Florida (+175) is still in the running for the regional title. The Badgers’ slight edge over the Gators has to do with their Sweet 16 matchup with No. 8 Butler (+500), while UF has a tricky meeting with No. 3 BYU (+350).

The Southwest Regional has trickled down favorably for the Kansas Jayhawks. No. 2 Notre Dame is no more as are seeds No. 3 through No. 9. The Jayhawks, who face No. 12 Richmond (+1,000) in the Sweet 16, are big -300 chalk to win the regional and advance to the Final Four. If the Jayhawks can top the Spiders, they’ll face either No. 10 Florida State (+350) or No. 11 VCU (+900).