NCAAB March Madness East Region Round 1 Best Bets & O dds

The 2026 NCAA Men’s college basketball championship tournament is already underway. March Madness promises to be as mad as ever this year after several thrilling finishes during the conference championship tournaments and the First Four. Will we get the same level of competition in the actual March Madness tournament? Let’s find out.

This is the first in a series of betting guides we’ve put together for each of the four regions in the tournament. Here, we take a look at the East Region, which is headlined by teams like No. 1 Duke and No. 2 UConn. We’ve sifted through the data and put together a betting guide for these eight games that includes our best bets on a favorite, on an underdog, and on the over. Read on for our picks and the top March Madness betting odds!

NCAA Basketball March Madness East Region First Round Betting Odds & Best Bets - March 19-20

All odds provided by Betway.

Best Bet on a Favourite: No. 7 UCLA (-5.5) over No. 10 UCF

UCLA had a bit of a scare during the Big Ten tournament. Their top two scorers, Donovan Dent and Tyler Bilodeau, both sustained injuries. Thankfully, head coach Mick Cronin says that both will be good to go, and they’ve got senior guard Skyy Clark back in the mix as well after he missed time due to injury.

The Bruins have also been rounding into form recently, going 6-2 in their last eight games coming into the tournament. Three of those six wins came against top 10 ranked teams: No. 8 Michigan State, No. 9 Nebraska, and No. 10 Illinois. Meanwhile, UCF has lost four of their last five coming into this one. UCLA is not the type of team to turn the ball over, and they shoot the ball well too, hitting at a 47.1 clip from the field this year. They should have no problem taking care of business in Philly.

Best Bet on an Underdog: No. 13 California Baptist (+625) upsets No. 4 Kansas

This is definitely a hot take, but we think in a region filled with heavy hitters, this is the one that feels the most realistic. Last year, there were no No. 14 upsets, but there is almost always at least one. There were five in the five years prior.

California Baptist will rely on Dominique Daniels Jr., who’s averaging 23.2 points per game. They also have an aggressive top 35 defense, which is exactly the type of thing that gives the turnover-happy Jayhawks fits. The Lancers are winners of 15 of their last 17 games coming into this one, including a win in the WAC title game last week. We’re taking the +625 moneyline here for Cal Baptist, but that +14.5 spread isn’t a bad bet either.

Best Bet to Hit the Over: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida (Over 164.5)

Whoever wins this one—and it could be either, with No. 6 Louisville only coming in as a 4.5-point favorite, second-lowest in the region—it’s going to be a high-scoring affair. Both of these teams score a ton of points and neither really plays great defense. They’re not awful defensively, but both give up 70+ points a game.

Meanwhile, both offenses are top 20 in the nation in scoring: South Florida is No. 8 with 87.7 points a game and Louisville scores 84.8 a night, good for 20th. Both of these teams shoot a ton from deep, so if either or both gets hot, we should have no issue hitting this 164.5-point over. South Florida will also be pushing the pace like they have all season, putting up 77.1 possessions per game, seventh-most in the country.