2011 East Regional Bracket Odds Odds

All March Madness betting odds available at Sportsbook.com.

The 2011 NCAA Men’s Tournament brackets have been set and first round action gets underway this Tuesday with two play-in games which is a new twist for the expanded field of 68 teams. There will be two more play-in games on Wednesday before all the teams take to the court on Thursday and Friday.

Ohio State is the top No.1 seed for the tournament and will begin its quest for a national title out of the East Region. Sportsbook.com has opened the Buckeyes as the odds-on-favorite to win it all at +350, but they will first have to navigate their way through a slippery slope in the East. The first two rounds should be fairly manageable with a match-up against the No.8 George Mason/No. 9 Villanova winner to advance into the Sweet 16. Either team would offer a degree of difficulty, but can be safely notched as a win.

Look for No.4 Kentucky to advance from the first two rounds to take on the Buckeyes in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats will most likely have to get by No.5 West Virginia to get there, but the Mountaineers have been unable to play with the consistency needed in a one-and-done tournament such as this. Kentucky’s run through the SEC Tournament brings some solid momentum into the NCAA’s making them an interesting pick at +3500, but you have to question how the youthful Wildcats will be able to keep up with the talent and depth of Ohio State.

It is too early to bet against the Buckeyes, so stick with them advancing to the Elite Eight with a hard-fought win over Kentucky.

The bottom half of the bracket has North Carolina as the No.2 seed and +1500 to win it all. The Tar Heels come in as one of the hotter teams in the tournament despite their loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament finals. They will probably face a pesky No.7 Washington in the second round but will not be really tested until they square-off against No.3 Syracuse in the Sweet 16.

The Orange, who are +2500 to win this tournament, boast a very talented lineup with outside shooters Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine along with Rick Jackson working underneath. They will most likely face No.6 Xavier in the second round but could also face Big East foe Marquette, who beat them in the regular season. Either way, Syracuse finds a way to advance to set up a great showdown with North Carolina in the Sweet 16.

North Carolina has weathered three epic battles with Duke this season, but Syracuse has been seasoned by battling in the Big East all year long. The Orange have victories over Notre Dame, Connecticut, and Georgetown on their resume and took the Huskies to overtime in the conference tournament semifinals. This will be another close, hard-fought game but stick with Syracuse to advance onto the Elite Eight.

The East final pits Ohio State against Syracuse for a trip to the Final Four. There is little question about the Orange’s ability to score, but will they be able to stop the likes of Jared Sullinger and William Buford from scoring more. Only two teams have been able to do that all season long and it has been almost a month since the Buckeyes last lost. Stick with the favorite here as Ohio State runs the table in the East.