March Madness Betting: Oklahoma, Oregon Sitting Atop West Region Odds

The Oregon Ducks (28-6) were the fastest risers during the conference tournaments, impressively winning the Pac-12 title to vault themselves into the No. 1 seed of the West Regional of the NCAA tournament bracket.

But oddsmakers do not view the Ducks as the team to beat in the quadrant despite earning the top seed, making them the 11-4 second choice (bet $100 to win $275) on the odds to win the West Regional at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark behind the second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners (25-7) at 21-10 out of the Big 12.

Oregon routed the Utah Utes 88-57 as a two-point favorite in the Pac-12 championship game and brings an eight-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament. However, the Pac-12 is not viewed on the same level as the Big 12 even though both conferences got seven teams in the field.

The Sooners are also led by likely player of the year Buddy Hield, increasing their popularity to win the region in the eyes of the betting public. Hield hopes to carry a team that struggled down the stretch and went just 12-18 against the spread, according to the Odds Shark College Basketball Database.

The defending national champion Duke Blue Devils (23-10) are the 4-1 third choice to win the West as the No. 4 seed, while the third-seeded Texas A&M Aggies (26-8) are 11-2.

Like Oklahoma, Duke has not played well lately, falling 84-79 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in overtime during the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, and it heads into the NCAA tournament with a 14-17-1 mark ATS.

Texas A&M was the top seed in the SEC tournament but suffered an 82-77 overtime loss to the second-seeded Kentucky Wildcats as four-point underdogs in the championship game.

A couple more Big 12 teams in the mix to win the West are the sixth-seeded Texas Longhorns (20-12) at 13-2 and the fifth-seeded Baylor Bears (22-11) at 11-1.

The Longhorns finished fourth in the conference during the regular season, with the Bears one game behind them. This is the first year at Texas for head coach Shaka Smart, who is coming off a very successful run at Virginia Commonwealth, with the Rams making five consecutive appearances in the Big Dance and advancing to the Final Four in 2011.