Vegas Lines March Madness for the East Bracket Matchups and Betting Analysis

2024 March Madness Betting Predictions for the East Region Brackets

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The wait is finally over, and March Madness is upon us. It’s a fun time to be a bettor that loves college basketball, but it’s also rather frantic, with the games in the opening couple of rounds coming thick and fast. Some of you are going to dive in and play every game, while others will pick and choose the games that they feel most confident about in each round. We are going to try our best to cover all the action, so let’s get started by taking a quick look at all 8 games in the East Region in Round 1 to consider in your NCAAB betting plans.

#1 UConn Vs #16 Stetson

This is generally the easiest matchup to play in the opening round, as in the history of the tournament, a #16 has only toppled the top seed twice. While that certainly doesn’t mean that can’t happen again, the odds are very much in your favor, which means taking the easy money and playing UConn to win.

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#8 FAU Vs #9 Northwestern

In matchups like these, where there is very little separating both teams, I tend to look at the form of both coming into the tournament. Both teams lost in their conference tournaments, but the Owls have been in better form, winning 4 of their last 5, while Northwestern won just twice in that same stretch. Slight nod to FAU here.

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#5 San Diego State Vs #12 UAB

This matchup somewhat bucks the trend that I spoke about in the previous game in that UAB comes into this one on a better run of form than San Diego State. Even with that, the Aztecs are a 6 ½ point favorite and should be good enough to move on, although how much further they go beyond that is in question.

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#4 Auburn Vs #13 Yale

In a recent post, I talked about how Auburn might be a dark horse heading into the tournament. They are on a run that took them all the way to a win in the SEC Conference Tournament, and I think they are more than capable of handling Yale and moving on. Watch out for the Tigers.

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#6 BYU Vs #11 Duquesne

This is another one where you have one team in better form than the other, but where it might not end up meaning much. Duquesne is certainly in good form when compared to BYU, but the Cougars appear to be the stronger of the 2 teams and are in as an 8 ½ point favorite. It might not be pretty, but I have to go with BYU.

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#3 Illinois Vs #14 Morehead State

We have a pair of conference champions meeting in the first round, but for me, this is still a matchup that is only going to go one way. It has been a fine season for Morehead State, but I think their run ends before it really begins, with Illinois getting the comfortable win.

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#7 Washington State Vs #10 Drake

Washington State comes into the tournament having lost 2 of their last 3 games, which could be a problem against a Drake team that is on a hot roll at the moment. I always look at the 7v10 matchup as the one that could deliver an upset, which is something I think Drake might give us here.

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#2 Iowa State Vs #15 South Dakota State

When: Thursday, March 21, 7:35 pm
TV/Streaming: truTV

There are a lot of people looking at Iowa State as a possible Final Four team this season. But before they can fulfill those expectations, they need to get a win in Round 1. The good news is that they have an opponent that they should be able to get past without breaking too much of a sweat.

Find all Iowa State @ South Dakota State betting odds to Win
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