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2023 NCAA bracket betting, odds: East region features Purdue and star center Zach Edey

Frank Schwab
NFL writer
·3 min read

[Betting breakdowns by region: South | East | Midwest | West]

Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State are in the same region, but none are even on the top four seed lines.

It's a bit of a strange season in terms of the blue bloods, and we can see that in the East region. Purdue, which hasn't been to a Final Four since 1980, is the No. 1 seed. Marquette and Kansas State, who had surprising seasons, are the No. 2 and 3 seeds.

The headliner in the region is Purdue big man Zach Edey. The 7-foot-4 center is likely to sweep the national player of the year awards after a fantastic season. We'll see if he can carry Purdue to its first Final Four in 43 years.

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Here's a betting preview of the East region:

BetMGM odds to win region

Purdue +250 to make Final Four, +1100 to win national title

Marquette +450, +2500

Tennessee +500, +3000

Kansas State +900, +5000

Duke +900, +3000

Kentucky +1200, +4000

Michigan State +1400, +10000

Memphis +2000, +8000

USC +3000, +20000

Florida Atlantic +3500, +20000

Providence +3500, +12500

Oral Roberts +10000, +25000

Louisiana +10000, +50000

Montana State +10000, +100000

Vermont +10000, +100000

Texas Southern +10000, +100000

Fairleigh Dickinson +10000, +100000

Zach Edey of the Purdue Boilermakers celebrates with Ethan Morton after defeating Penn State to win the Big Ten tournament. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Favorite

Purdue (+250): It's likely that Purdue will be the No. 1 seed that gets the lowest percentage of championship picks in bracket pools. The Boilermakers might not be one of the top four most popular picks to win it all. Purdue lost four of six late in the season, but rebounded to win its last five games, including the Big Ten tournament. The Boilermakers are incredibly reliant on Zach Edey, a national player of the year favorite, and freshman guards. Edey is great and there's not much chance he has an off night — he was remarkably consistent through the season — but it would just take one off night from his teammates to end Purdue's run.

Value plays

Duke (+900): Duke wasn't great for the early part of the season as a young team with a rookie head coach. But the talent started to come around and Duke was among the best teams in college basketball down the stretch. The Blue Devils stuck on the No. 5 seed line because of those early season struggles, but they're playing much better than that now. If you don't trust Purdue, Duke is a fine pick to go to the Final Four.

Memphis (+2000): Memphis was under-seeded as a No. 8 seed. The Tigers lost by three points at Alabama this season and just beat Houston by 10 in the AAC title game, so they have experience against No. 1 seeds in this tournament. They don't have an easy first-round matchup against Florida Atlantic, but they are better than their seed or region odds would indicate.

First-round bets

Michigan State (-1.5) over USC: I don't think this is a great spot for the Trojans. They travel all the way to Columbus, Ohio, a familiar city for the Spartans. They get the first tip time on Friday, at 9:15 a.m. PT. That has been bad for some West Coast teams in the past. Michigan State has been up and down but so has USC, and the situation is tougher for the Trojans.

Providence (+3.5) over Kentucky: I can make this quick: I don't trust Kentucky. The Wildcats have been disappointing all season and a loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament drove that home. This Providence team, which has wins over UConn and Marquette this season, is good enough to keep it close and maybe win straight up.