2011 West 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 with two play-in games on Tuesday and two on Wednesday as part of this year’s expanded field of 68 teams. The rest of the field takes to the court on Thursday and Friday in what will now be considered the second round.

The reigning NCAA champion Duke Blue Devils begin their title defense in the West Region as a No.1 seed. Sportsbook.com has opened them as the second favorite after Ohio State at +450 to win another national title. The Blue Devils’ path in the East should not get tricky until the Sweet 16 as the winner of No.8 Michigan/No.9 Tennessee is all that stands in their way to get there.

No.4 Texas, which at one time was knocking on the doorstep as the top team in the nation, should advance to take on No.5 Arizona for the right to play Duke in the Sweet 16. Texas (+2000) has all the tools to make a deep run and could gain some serious momentum moving forward with a win over the Wildcats. Stick with Jordan Hamilton and the Longhorns to find their game at the right time to come out on top in this match-up.

Duke has to be wary of Texas in the next round but experience and coaching will guide them past the Longhorns and back into the Elite Eight.

No.2 San Diego State comes into this tournament with an overall record of 32-2 and at +1200 to win it all. The Aztecs should be able to navigate their way past No.7 Temple in the second round to make it to the Sweet 16, but a formidable obstacle stands in their way to advance any further.

Kemba Walker led a Connecticut team that had fallen all the way to ninth-place in its conference on an impressive five-game run in the Big East Tournament that resulted in the Huskies taking home the title with a win over Louisville in the finals. They come in at +3500 to make another miracle run in this tournament against what could actually be an easier field. The big question for this team is how much gas is left in the tank after last week’s run? There should be more than enough to get by the first two rounds including a win over San Diego State; setting up a must-see matchup against Duke.

The Blue Devils have just four losses on the year against 30 victories, but one of those losses was to another Big East team, St. John’s in late January. Connecticut now has a chance to tag a second Big East loss on Duke behind an almost unstoppable Walker and the never-say-die mentality of this Huskies’ team. This four-game stretch will seem like a walk in the park as compared to facing Georgetown, Pitt, Syracuse, and Louisville in four days, so do not be afraid to ride the Huskies all the way to the Final Four coming out of the West Region.