Kentucky Surprise Favorite to Win East Region as No. 2 Seed
By Joe Summers
Typically, the team that is awarded the No. 1 seed in a region is the odds-on favorite to make the Final Four.
That's not the case in the East Region though, as No. 2 Kentucky is favored over No. 1 Baylor to make the 18th Final Four in school history.
BetSided's Donovan Smoot took a look at the region and loved the value on the Wildcats, so why don't we examine their chances a bit deeper?
Kentucky Odds To Win East Region
WynnBET Sportsbook currently has Kentucky at +800 to win the National Championship. Those are the fourth best odds in the field and and best in the East Region. #1 Baylor has the second-lowest odds in the region at +1000 while #3 Purdue (+1600) and #4 UCLA (+3000) round out the top four.
There's a lot to like about the Wildcats. KenPom has them with the fourth-best offense and 27th-ranked defense in the country. Kentucky is deep, balanced and has a Naismith Player of the Year candidate in Oscar Tshiebwe, whose 15.1 rebounds per game leads college basketball.
The Wildcats have the second-highest offensive rebounding percentage nationally and gobble up an insane 40+ percent of their misses when Tshiebwe is on the floor. Those second-chance opportunities will keep them afloat if their offense struggles at all.
You have to like their draw too. The winner of Murray State and San Francisco will be a tough second-round matchup, but if they make the Sweet 16 they'll likely face Purdue, who hasn't covered the spread in over a month.
If there's a concern for Kentucky, it's that they've sputtered a bit heading into the NCAA Tournament. They're 1-4-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last six and their defense is in just the 16th percentile in rating over their last 10 games. If Tshiebwe gets into foul trouble, they could have problems.
But no team is without warts come March and Kentucky has as good a shot as any to make the Final Four. With an elite offense and coach, oddsmakers are wise to make them the surprise favorites to come out of the East Region.
Follow BetSided's March Madness Hub throughout the entirety of the NCAA men's and women's tournaments for full betting previews and picks for every game, updated betting odds , futures for the Final Four and national championship, insights, trends, videos, podcasts and more!