2022 NCAA Tournament Matchups, Odds & Betting Tips
Every matchup, top trends, best bets and players to watch for this year’s Tournament
Dan Karpuc - Mar 13, 2022, 6:54pm EDT
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The 68-team 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket is set and consists of 32 conference champions, the best of the rest and teams that finished on the right side of the bubble. The First Four will take place on March 15th and 16th at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. That will be followed by First and Second Round action between March 17th-20th in Buffalo, Indianapolis, Fort Worth, Portland, Greenville, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and San Diego. The Sweet 16 will take place between March 24th and 25th in San Antonio, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia and the Elite 8 will happen between March 26th and 27th at those same locations. Finally, the Final Four and NCAA Championship will be held on April 2nd and April 4th, respectively, in New Orleans. Below, you’ll see each region’s matchups, important trends to know and much more.
NCAA Tournament Best Bets | Sharp Picks | Live Odds
Top 10 National Champion Odds (Per BetMGM)
Who will cut down the nets after Baylor won it all last year?
1. Gonzaga (+350)
2. Arizona (+600)
3. Kentucky (+800)
4. Duke (+1000)
5. Baylor (+1200)
6. Kansas (+1200)
7. Purdue (+1400)
8. Auburn (+1400)
9. Texas Tech (+1800)
10. UCLA/Villanova (+2200)
The brackets are finalized and here are the first matchups in this year's tournament:
West Region
#1 Gonzaga vs. #16 Georgia State
#5 UConn vs. #12 New Mexico State
#6 Alabama vs. #11 Rutgers/Notre Dame
#3 Texas Tech vs. #14 Montana State
#7 Michigan State vs. #10 Davidson
#2 Duke vs. #15 Cal State Fullerton
South Region
#1 Arizona vs. #16 Wright State/Bryant
#4 Illinois vs. #13 Chattanooga
#6 Colorado State vs. #11 Michigan
Midwest Region
#1 Kansas vs. #16 Texas Southern/Texas A&M-CC
#8 San Diego State vs. #9 Creighton
#4 Providence vs. #13 South Dakota State
#2 Auburn vs. #15 Jacksonville State
East Region
#1 Baylor vs. #16 Norfolk State
#8 North Carolina vs. Marquette
#5 Saint Mary’s vs. Wyoming/Indiana
Trends To Know
A No. 1 seed has won 23 of the 36 NCAA Tournaments since the field extended to 64+ teams, including the last four times: North Carolina Tar Heels (2017), Villanova Wildcats (2018), Virginia Cavaliers (2019) and Baylor Bears (2021). … High-seeded teams also have made the championship game much more than other teams: 60 of the 72 teams in that span have been ranked 1-3 in their regions. … Over the last nine Tournaments, No. 12 seeds have beaten more No. 5 seeds outright than vice versa. …The BetQL model has gone: 48-29 ATS on Kentucky Wildcats bets (64.3%, +$1,471 on $100 bets) and 45-29 (60.8%, +$1,175 on $100) on UK O/U wagers. … 64-13 (83.1%, +$1,149 on $100 bets) on Connecticut Huskies moneyline bets and 36-25 (59.1%, $770 on $100 bets) on UConn ATS bets all-time. … 74-11 (87.1%, +$1,301) on Kansas Jayhawks moneyline bets. … 44-31 (58.7%, +$901 on $100 bets) on Duke Blue Devils O/U bets. … 45-30 (60%, +$1,084 on $100 bets) on Ohio State Buckeyes O/U bets. … 42-31 (57.5%, +$715 on $100 bets) on Illinois Fighting Illini ATS bets. … 45-28 (61.6%, +$1,305 on $100 bets) on Richmond ATS bets. … The Big South Tournament winner Longwood Lancers went 19-9 ATS (67.9% cover rate) this season (the best among all NCAA Tournament teams). … The Texas Longhorns went 12-19 (38.7% cover rate) this season (the worst among all NCAA Tournament teams). … The over went 21-10 (67.7%) in Alabama Crimson Tide games this season (the highest percentage among all NCAA Tournament teams). … The under has gone 20-10 (66.7%) in Seton Hall Pirates games this season (the highest percentage among all NCAA Tournament teams).
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Players To Watch
All 15 Wooden Award finalists are going to take the court in this tournament: Ochai Agbaji (Kansas), Paolo Banchero (Duke), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Johnny Davis (Wisconsin), Collin Gillespie (Villanova), Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga), Jaden Ivey (Purdue), Johnny Juzang (UCLA), Walker Kessler (Auburn), E.J. Liddell (Ohio State), Bennedict Mathurin (Arizona), Keegan Murray (Iowa), Jabari Smith (Auburn), Drew Timme (Gonzaga) and Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky). ... Holmgren, Smith and Banchero are the three freshmen on that list and one of them will likely be selected first overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. … Wooden Award frontrunner Tshiebwe averaged 15.1 rebounds per game (in addition to 17.0 points) this year for Kentucky, finished tied for the most double-doubles in Division-I (27) and recorded more rebounds per contest than everyone since Tennessee State’s Monti Davis’ 16.2 during the 1978-1979 season. … Iowa’s Murray has averaged 23.7 points per game (the second-most of any player of this tournament) to go along with 8.6 boards. … Keep an eye on Chattanooga’s Malachi Smith, who averaged 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists en route to a Southern Conference Championship. ... Bryant's Peter Kiss led the nation in scoring (25.1).
