2009 NCAA Tournament Odds: East Region
Written March 17, 2009 by Jack Jones
One of the more interesting NCAA Tournament futures is that you can bet on individual teams to win their region. You just take the team you think has the best odds to get to the Final Four (regional winner). We’ll take a look at each region, starting with the East. There are several potentially interesting match ups in the later rounds of this region, including a possible meeting between Duke and Villanova in the Sweet 16 and what would be a showdown between the #1 and #2 seed to go to the Final Four if both Pitt and Duke win their their way to the regional final. Here are the odds on each team to with the East Region in the NCAA Tournament:
Pittsburgh +125 – Not surprisingly, the #1 seeded Pittsburgh Panthers are the favorites to win the region. Pitt had a tremendous regular season in the Big East and I still feel they are one of the most complete teams in the nation.
Duke +300 – Coming in just behind Pitt are the Duke Blue Devils. There were many people that felt like Duke should have been a #1 seed after winning the ACC Tournament, but two regular season losses to UNC, and not playing them in the conference tournament probably hurt the Devils more than anything.
Villanova +500 – #3 seed Villanova had an impressive regular season resume. They beat some of the better teams in the Big East, which means they can play with just about anyone. They’ll face American in the first round, which really should be an easy win, but they could run into some stiff competition to get their way to the regional final.
UCLA +650 – The Bruins are the 6th seed in the East, but they’ve been given the fourth best odds to win the region. I’m not sure of the logic behind this as UCLA has a very difficult road to the Final Four in which they may need to beat Villanova, Duke, and Pitt along the way.
Xavier +1000 – Xavier had impressive wins over Memphis and LSU in the regular season and they played very well within their conference, but struggled against strong non-conference opponents like Duke, Butler, and Dayton. The Musketeers lost to Richmond to end their regular season and then were knocked out of their conference tournament by Temple.
Texas +1000 – The Longhorns finished the regular season at 4th in the Big 12, and lost to Baylor in the Big 12 conference tournament. Their first round game is set against Minnesota, and it won’t get any easier from their for the Longhorns.
Florida State +1200 – The Seminoles shocked everyone by upsetting North Carolina in the ACC Tournament, but it would be even more shocking to see them reach the Final Four. FSU has a dangerous first round game against Wisconsin.
Middle Tier: Oklahoma State (+2000), Tennessee (+2000), Wisconsin (+3000), Minnesota (+3000), Virginia Commonwealth (+4000)
Long Shots: Portland State (+5000), American (+10000), Binghamton (+10000), Eastern Tennessee State (+10000)
Win more this season when you bet on college basketball with top NCAA basketball picks from our experts. They can help you beat the NCAA basketball odds during this year’s tournament.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- 2009 NCAA Tournament East Region Predictions
- 2009 NCAA Tournament Odds: West Region
- 2009 NCAA Tournament Odds: South Region
- Big East Teams in the 2009 NCAA Tournament
- NCAA Tournament Odds: Midwest Region
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