Baylor Favored to Make Final Four in the South Region Odds
- No. 1 seed Baylor is the odds-on -250 favorite to reach the Final Four from the South Region of the NCAA Tournament
- No. 2 Ohio State (+300) and No. 6 Texas Tech (+300) are the only other team given odds shorter than +700
- Six of the 16 schools in the South Region are past March Madness champions
As far as the South Region of the NCAA Tournament is concerned, oddsmakers are seeing it as a Bears market. Baylor, the #1 seed in the region, is the -250 favorite to emerge from the group in the Final Four odds.
Big Ten Conference finalists the Ohio State Buckeyes and defending March Madness runners-up the Texas Tech Red Raiders are next in the betting line at +300. However, then it jumps all the way to the Arkansas Razorbacks and Purdue Boilermakers, each at odds of +700.
The longest shots are North Texas State, Hartford and Oral Roberts, all with odds of +3000.
NCAA Tournament South Region Final Four Odds
| School | Odds |
|---|---|
| Baylor | -250 |
| Ohio State | +300 |
| Texas Tech | +300 |
| Arkansas | +700 |
| Purdue | +700 |
| North Carolina | +900 |
| Villanova | +900 |
| Virginia Tech | +900 |
| Wisconsin | +900 |
| Utah State | +1400 |
| Colgate | +1500 |
| Florida | +1650 |
| Winthrop | +2500 |
| Hartford | +3000 |
| North Texas | +3000 |
| Oral Roberts | +3000 |
Odds as of Mar. 14th at DraftKings.
Action in the South Region gets underway Friday, March 19th, at 12:00 pm ET. The entire tournament is being played at a variety of venues in Indiana, with Lucas Oil Stadium serving as the hub. Games are being broadcast by CBS, TNT, and TBS.
Baylor an Overwhelming Favorite
On paper, what’s not to like about Baylor? The Bears only lost one regular-season game. Baylor is shooting 41.82% from three-point range, which leads the nation. On defense, the Bears force a turnover on nearly 20% of their opponent’s possessions.
Both Jared Butler (17.1 points per game, 5.0 assists per game) and Davion Mitchell (13.8 ppg) are viewed as 2021 first-round NBA draft picks. Butler drains three-pointers at a 44% clip.
Beyond them, MaCio Teague is also good on almost 40% of his shots from beyond the arc and is averaging 15.8 PPG.
The Bears were unbeaten when they endured a three-week COVID-19 pause. Since coming back, they lost to Kansas and were dropped 83-74 by Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament semi-finals.
Buckeyes Won’t Stop Here
Ohio State reached the Big Ten Tournament title game before falling to Illinois in overtime. Like Baylor, Ohio State can perform great feats and also stub their toes on the big stage.
In early February, they ran a 5-0 road gauntlet of Rutgers, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Maryland. Then the Buckeyes lost four in a row. That may say more about how deep the talent pool is in the Big Ten this season.
Duane Washington Jr. had 32 Pts in the Big Ten title game.
He scored 92 Pts in the entire Big Ten Tournament, a record for a single Big Ten Tournament pic.twitter.com/gYwbdSBzYt
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 14, 2021
Offensive depth beyond Duane Washington (15.3 ppg) and E.J. Liddell (16.0 ppg) and interior defense against bigs are concerns that may stop an Ohio State tournament run.
Razorbacks Offer Value
The six losses suffered by Arkansas are the fewest in a season since the Razorbacks won the 1994 NCAA title.
Hogs going to the final 4!
— Bobby BP Portis (@BPortistime) March 14, 2021
Arkansas is 12-1 over the past 13 games and finished second in the rugged SEC. All six teams to beat Arkansas made the tournament.
Could the Eagles Land It?
In 2018, it was in the South where #11 Loyola-Chicago rose up and posted that magical finish. Winthrop could the Loyola-Chicago team in this year’s South.
The 𝙃𝙄𝙇𝙇 has been 𝙍𝙊𝘾𝙆𝙀𝘿 🏆
The Winthrop Eagles are Big South Champions. #ROCKtheHILL pic.twitter.com/l1xldW0wOf
— Winthrop MBB (@Winthrop_MBB) March 7, 2021
The 23-1 Big South champion #12 Eagles are deep – 11 players average at least 10 minutes a game – and they’re in the top 10 in both rebounding and offensive rebounding. They also open against a wounded Villanova squad.
Who Gets It?
It’s the year of the Big Ten in March Madness. Ohio State will emerge from the South.
Today didn’t go our way, but our story is far from being over. Regroup and get ready for the madness.
Let’s DANCE‼️ pic.twitter.com/VUEjPaQbER
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 14, 2021
Baylor might find it tough getting past an improving North Carolina Tar Heels squad in the second round.
Pick: Ohio State (+300)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
