The Odds That A Team From The East Will Take The Title

The NCAA East contribution to the Sweet 16 is stacked with the top seeds in that region.  The four East teams in the Sweet 16 are the No. 1,2,3 and 4 seeded teams.  Miami, Marquette, Syracuse and Indiana are universally considered among the best in the NCAA and have proven by making their way into the Sweet 16.  What are the odds, though, that any of these teams will take the NCAA Championship.

Marquette Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles are definitely the weak link in the East.  They have made it to the Sweet 16 by the skin of their teeth, winning both of their first two tournament games in the final minuet or so.  These close call victories highlight a weakness for many.  For others it shows that this team does not quit or ever give up.  It is this determination that have Marquette fans betting on them cutting down the nets.  However, the oddsmakers do not quite have the same faith in the Golden Eagles with 40/1 odds of winning it all.

Syracuse Orange

The Syracuse Orange are a team that has been riding its defense through the tournament thus far.  Its zone defense shuts down team’s ability to hit jumpers from anywhere beyond the free throw line.  Speaking of the free throw line, the Orange unfortunately cannot hit free throws to save their life, a big weakness in the Sweet 16 when games are likely to comedown to the wire and keeping your March Madness alive could very well depend on making free throws.

Not helping the Oranges odds is the fact that they are kicking off the Sweet 16 with a match up against the No.1 seeded Indiana.  Syracuse is 22/1 to win the NCAA title.

Miami Hurricanes

Miami perhaps will have the best player on the court when they take on Marquette in Shane Larkin.  Larkin can penetrate defenses and create shots like no other player in the NCAA.  However, a weakness of Mimai’s is they may depend upon Larkin too much.  If a team, like Marquette, can find away to shut him down the Hurricanes March Madness run will likely be over.  It is time for the rest of this team to do some serious stepping up on the offensive end of the ball, because even if they get past Marquette they will next have to face either Syracuse or Indiana, both of which are teams that will likely be able to shut down a team that depends upon only one offense weapon.

The Hurricanes are 9/1 to cut down the nets.

Indiana Hoosiers

Let’s not pull any qualms about the Hoosiers and try to nitpic.  Indiana is simply the best all around team in the East.  Could they lose?  Absolutely, they could have an off night, they have been known to allow leads to get away from them by playing lax ball when they have a big lead.  I do not expect that to happen, though, in the biggest games of the year.

Indiana is a team with little to no weaknesses and not surprising the No.1 seed in the East has the best odds in the region as well as one of the top odds in the nation with 19/4 odds of winning the Championship.