{"id":334493,"date":"2025-03-17T16:10:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T20:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=334493"},"modified":"2025-03-24T10:44:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:44:27","slug":"march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"Best bets to win the 4 March Madness regions: Predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With March Madness beginning, the road to the Final Four is now officially underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the four regions of the NCAA tournament, there are three odds-on favourites \u2014 and I&#8217;ve got my eye on one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn&#8217;t a fully chalky list of Final Four predictions, though. Check out my March Madness best bets to win each 2025 region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">March Madness best bets: Regional picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/basketball\/competitions\/10530\">Full March Madness Markets<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/news\/article\/un-bustable-bracket-challenge\">PLAY NOW: Un-Bustable Bracket Challenge<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re a contrarian by nature or just want to avoid a vanilla bracket, there might be some temptation to avoid some or all of the No. 1 seeds when making your Final Four picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But No. 1 seeds are at the top for a reason, and history is largely on their side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>62 of 156 Final Four teams (39.74%) since 1985 were No. 1 seeds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For context, Nos. 2-4 seeds account for 64 Final Four teams in that same span.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>13 of the past 17 title winners were No. 1 seeds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Then again, only one tournament has featured all four No. 1 seeds (2008; Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA). So <em>something<\/em> unexpected is bound to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s why you won&#8217;t see an all-chalk lineup in my regional winner picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">East Region prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The favourites:<\/strong> Duke Blue Devils (-138)<br><strong>The pick:<\/strong> Wisconsin Badgers (+1,000)<br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/basketball\/events\/10039163\">East Region odds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s get my unlikeliest prediction out of the way first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve already checked out my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/news\/article\/march-madness-long-shot-picks-ncaa-tournament\">long shot championship picks<\/a>, I&#8217;m going to start sounding like a broken record. But Wisconsin hits on some traits that I really, really like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Badgers put fundamentals first. They lead NCAA Division I in free throw percentage (82.8%) and rank 17th in turnover rate (14.1%), per KenPom.com.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They&#8217;re an experienced bunch, ranking 45th in average D-I experience and 90th in minutes continuity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sixth-year transfer John Tonje is one of three seniors in Wisconsin&#8217;s starting lineup, and he&#8217;s the type of go-to star that can fuel a lengthy tournament run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tonje averages 19.2 points and is a 90.8% free throw shooter. He shot 12-for-26 (46.2%) from 3-point range in the Big Ten tournament to lead the Badgers to the championship game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Midwest Region pick<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The favourites:<\/strong> Houston Cougars (+150)<br><strong>The pick:<\/strong> Houston Cougars (+150)<br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/basketball\/events\/10039163\">Midwest Region odds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Houston underperformed as the second-overall seed in last year&#8217;s NCAA tournament, but a huge chunk of that squad is running it back as a 1-seed again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Headlined by four returnees from last year&#8217;s starting five, the Cougars have a 67.2% minutes continuity (eighth-highest in D-I). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Houston (30-4, 19-1 Big 12) ripped through a talented pool of Big 12 foes and is 26-1 since the start of December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Cougars boast some seriously elite balance, ranking in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, per KenPom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All four of the Cougars&#8217; losses came against tourney-bound teams \u2014 Auburn, Alabama, San Diego State, Texas Tech \u2014 and three of those were in overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">March Madness best bets: South Region<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The favourites:<\/strong> Auburn Tigers (-112)<br><strong>The pick:<\/strong> Iowa State Cyclones (+500)<br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/basketball\/events\/10039163\">South Region odds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s another team that will try to make good on a second chance after failing to meet expectations last March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite having KenPom&#8217;s top-ranked defence last season, the Cyclones bowed out in the Sweet 16 last year as a 2-seed. Four of five starters are back, eager for better results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once again, this team is built on frenzied defence and ranks in the top 15 in both turnover rate and defensive efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the offensive numbers have notably improved over last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iowa State ranks 50th in effective field goal percentage (was 100th last year) and 60th in free throw percentage (was 264th).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The toughest test for the Cyclones should be top-seeded Auburn, who Iowa State lost to earlier this season. But it was a tight game (83-81) that the Cyclones once led by 18. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">West Region prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The favourites:<\/strong> Florida Gators (-120)<br><strong>The pick:<\/strong> Florida Gators (-120)<br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.com\/sportsbook\/sports\/basketball\/events\/10039163\">West Region odds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rolling with an odds-on favourite feels iffy, given how unpredictable this tournament is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think Florida is just that good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Houston, the Gators are a top-10 squad in both offensive and defensive efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Florida (30-4, 14-4 SEC) beat everyone in the gauntlet-like SEC this year \u2014 aside from Kentucky, who the Gators played on the road to open conference play in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep an eye on Walter Clayton Jr., the leader of Florida&#8217;s No. 1-rated offence (based on efficiency). In his past five games, Clayton is averaging 21.4 PPG on 46.8\/44.4\/81.3 shooting splits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>March Madness best bets made at 4:10 p.m. on 03\/17\/25.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With March Madness beginning, the road to the Final Four is now officially underway. Among the four regions of the NCAA tournament, there are three odds-on favourites \u2014 and I&#8217;ve got my eye on one of them. This isn&#8217;t a fully chalky list of Final Four predictions, though. Check out my March Madness best bets [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":334448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,75],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-334493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-college-basketball","tag-college-basketball-betting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>March Madness best bets: 2025 regional picks | NorthStar Bets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our 2025 March Madness best bets to win each region. College basketball predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South regions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"March Madness best bets: 2025 regional picks | NorthStar Bets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check out our 2025 March Madness best bets to win each region. College basketball predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South regions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Boost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-17T20:10:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-24T14:44:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nsb-news.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/imgs\/2025\/03\/CP216106839-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jordan Horrobin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JordanHorrobin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jordan Horrobin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/\",\"name\":\"March Madness best bets: 2025 regional picks | NorthStar Bets\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-17T20:10:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-24T14:44:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#\/schema\/person\/8e0d7302b14f65be7f61f221a134fc9f\"},\"description\":\"Check out our 2025 March Madness best bets to win each region. College basketball predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South regions.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/\",\"name\":\"The Boost\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#\/schema\/person\/8e0d7302b14f65be7f61f221a134fc9f\",\"name\":\"Jordan Horrobin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nsb-news.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/imgs\/2024\/11\/IMG_7764.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nsb-news.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/imgs\/2024\/11\/IMG_7764.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Jordan Horrobin\"},\"description\":\"Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles \u2014 especially for MLB markets or NFL\/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he\u2019ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.northstarbets.ca\/sportsbook\/news\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JordanHorrobin\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/author\/jordan-horrobinnorthstargaming-ca\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"March Madness best bets: 2025 regional picks | NorthStar Bets","description":"Check out our 2025 March Madness best bets to win each region. College basketball predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South regions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"March Madness best bets: 2025 regional picks | NorthStar Bets","og_description":"Check out our 2025 March Madness best bets to win each region. College basketball predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South regions.","og_url":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/","og_site_name":"The Boost","article_published_time":"2025-03-17T20:10:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-24T14:44:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/nsb-news.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/imgs\/2025\/03\/CP216106839-1.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Jordan Horrobin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JordanHorrobin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jordan Horrobin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/","url":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/","name":"March Madness best bets: 2025 regional picks | NorthStar Bets","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-17T20:10:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-24T14:44:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#\/schema\/person\/8e0d7302b14f65be7f61f221a134fc9f"},"description":"Check out our 2025 March Madness best bets to win each region. College basketball predictions on the East, West, Midwest and South regions.","inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/march-madness-best-bets-2025-ncaa-tournament-regional-picks\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/","name":"The Boost","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#\/schema\/person\/8e0d7302b14f65be7f61f221a134fc9f","name":"Jordan Horrobin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/nsb-news.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/imgs\/2024\/11\/IMG_7764.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nsb-news.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/imgs\/2024\/11\/IMG_7764.jpg","caption":"Jordan Horrobin"},"description":"Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles \u2014 especially for MLB markets or NFL\/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he\u2019ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.northstarbets.ca\/sportsbook\/news","https:\/\/twitter.com\/JordanHorrobin"],"url":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/author\/jordan-horrobinnorthstargaming-ca\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334493"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335651,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334493\/revisions\/335651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}