March Madness is almost here, and Michigan Basketball is in the same region as the No. 1 overall seed. Here’s a guide to the South Region, and the Wolverines’ potential path to the Final Four:
March Madness is almost here, and as the weather gets warmer, college basketball fanbases across the country plot out path for their favorite team to make a run in the greatest postseason in all of sports.
The Michigan men’s basketball team is riding a high entering the tournament, improving on the overall record with wins over Purdue , Maryland and Wisconsin to win the program’s first Big Ten Tournament title since 2018. The NCAA Tournament selection committee didn’t award the Wolverines for their efforts in the Big Ten Tournament, giving them a 5-seed in the South Region, the same region as No. 1 overall seed Auburn.
If you’re looking to make a $10 bet on the Wolverines to make the Final Four — a tall task but by no means an impossible one — you’d make $220 in profit. Here’s a look at the rest of the region’s Final Four odds, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook .
1-seed Auburn: -105
2-seed Michigan State: +490
3-seed Iowa State: +550
4-seed Texas A&M: +1600
8-seed Louisville: +1900
6-seed Ole Miss: +2100
5-seed Michigan: +2200
7-seed Marquette: +2300
9-seed Creighton: +3600
11-seed North Carolina (play-in): +4000
12-seed UC San Diego: +5000
10-seed New Mexico: +6500
13-seed Yale & 11-seed San Diego State (play-in): +17000
16-seeds St. Francis and Alabama State (play-in), 15-seed Bryant, and 14-seed Lipscomb: +25000
In addition, FanDuel is offering a Dog of the Day Jackpot :
What is it?
- Bet the lowest seeded team to advance that day and win a share of $1M in bonus bets!
Timing
- 3/20 – 3/23
- This will occur every day of the first weekend of the tournament
- Daily promotion (4x total, 1x each day – Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
- Marketing for this promotion will begin on 3/17 with first occurrence on 3/20
How to Play
- Download or Log In to FanDuel Sportsbook with new or existing account
- Claim your “Sweepstakes” token
- Place a Pre-Live, Straight, Moneyline wager on any qualifying Men’s NCAA Tournament games for the day (utilize token)
- Bet the lowest seeded team (higher number: 16, 15, 14, etc) to advance that day and win a share of $1M in bonus bets!
- Lowest seed = Higher number (16, 15, 14, 13, etc.)
Let’s take a look at the top teams in the region, some potential underdogs, and Michigan’s potential path to the Final Four.
The top teams
Auburn (4th in KenPom): Considered the top team all season, the Auburn Tigers, led by National Player of the Year candidate Johnni Broome, stumbled into this tournament by losing three of its last four games.
MSU (8th): Beating Michigan twice this season and winning the Big Ten outright, this may be Tom Izzo’s deepest team in a while. The Spartans have a great defense and have a future NBA shooting guard in Jase Richardson, the son of Jason Richardson.
Iowa State (10th): When fully healthy, the Cyclones were one of the best teams in the country. However, T.J. Otzelburger’s squad hasn’t been healthy, will be without top guard Keshon Gilbert, and lost eight of its last 17 games.
Texas A&M (17th): The Aggies are battle-tested in a deep SEC conference, and Wade Taylor IV, the school’s all-time leading scorer, is appointment-viewing late in games.
A few underdogs to watch
(Note to readers: I consider every team under a 5-seed an underdog.)
Ole Miss (26th): Chris Beard is one of the best coaches in the country, and leads an Ole Miss team that has wins over three top-three seeds (Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee). Like Texas A&M, Ole Miss played a gauntlet of an SEC schedule and is a popular Sweet Sixteen pick with Iowa State not at full strength.
Marquette (28th): The Golden Eagles have a top-35 scorer in the country in Kam Jones and earned wins over 4-seeds Maryland and Purdue in non-conference play. But Marquette isn’t playing great ball right now, losing seven of its last 12.
Louisville (23rd): Many bracketologists believe the Cardinals are under-seeded despite posting an 18-2 record in ACC play. One advantage for the Cardinals is they get to play their regional games in Lexington, Kentucky, just a 90-minute drive from Louisville’s campus. If the Cardinals can get past Creighton in the Round of 64, they could get what is essentially a home game against the Auburn Tigers in the Round of 32.
Creighton (37th): Creighton is down by the lofty standards Greg McDermott has helped that program earn, but the Blue Jays do boast wins over St. John’s and Kansas in non-conference play. Seniors are often the stars of March Madness, and Creighton has a dominant duo in center Ryan Kalkbrenner and point guard Steven Ashworth that could help the Blue Jays make a run.
North Carolina (33rd): The most controversial pick in the field, speculation about the Tar Heels getting in because of athletic director Bubba Cunningham leading the selection committee ran rampant. UNC only has one Quad 1 win, but if you squint hard enough, you can see a little bit of former UConn Husky Shabazz Napier in senior guard R.J. Davis.
Michigan’s potential path to the Final Four
-First, Michigan has to worry about a UC San Diego a team entering March Madness on the longest winning streak in the country. As I covered , taking care of the ball will be crucial against a good Triton defense, but I think Michigan has the size to carry it through the upset bid.
-If Texas A&M beats Yale (wouldn’t a Danny Wolf revenge game be fun?), the Aggies and Wolverines could play one of the most fun Round of 32 games. Texas A&M is the best offensive rebounding team in the country on KenPom, and slowing down Taylor and Zhuric Phelps is no small task. Michigan would need to win on the glass, but A&M is real streaky from beyond the arc, a potential fatal flaw for the Aggies.
-Auburn is the top overall seed for a reason and has one of the deepest teams in the sport. That said, if we believe in momentum — we certainly do in this sport — the Tigers have struggled lately and foul a lot (317th in Free Throws Attempted/Field Goals Attempted, defensive). I think Tre Donaldson goes off against his former team in this game if it happens, and Michigan’s bigs provide consistent scoring for a potential upset.
-We could see Michigan-Michigan State Round 3 in the Elite Eight, surely another fun chapter in one of the best rivalries in the sport. Michigan State has beaten Michigan by a combined margin of 30 points, but it’s really hard to beat a team three times in one season. Spoiling Izzo’s 30th season would be a nice feather in Dusty May’s cap, and with MSU’s three-point variance, Michigan can punch its ticket to San Antonio with a good performance from beyond the arc.
Who do you have making it to the Final Four in the South Region? What’s your favorite upset pick? Let us know in the comments.