Who Will Win the 2025 March Madness West Region Bracket? Favorites, Sleepers & Final Four Picks
In what looks like the strongest region in this year's March Madness bracket, No. 1 seed Florida is the favorite to stay hot and reach the Final Four after winning the SEC tournament. Tournament play begins today, while Florida plays Norfolk State tomorrow.
However, our 2025 March Madness West Region betting preview is focused on a head coach who's won it all before with Rick Pitino's No. 2 seeded St. John's program our favorite Final Four pick for our March Madness predictions.
đ 2025 March Madness West Region odds & betting favorites
Here are the odds for every team to win the NCAA Tournament West Region.
đ Want to bet on the NCAA Tournament? Check out the latest March Madness odds and Final Four odds.
đ¤ See our March Madness AI bracket predictions for every game through Monday, April 7
đŽ West Region expert picks
- Florida vs. Norfolk State prediction
- UConn vs. Oklahoma prediction
- Memphis vs. Colorado State prediction
- Maryland prediction Grand Canyon prediction
- Drake vs. Missouri prediction
- Texas Tech vs. UNC Wilmington prediction
- Kansas vs. Arkansas prediction
- St. John's vs. Omaha prediction
đ March Madness West Region betting preview
While Florida put on a show down the stretch of the regular season and into the SEC tournament to earn its No. 1 seed, the Gators got put in one heck of a region. The West has more parity than any other region and there's a strong argument for any of Florida, St. John's, Texas Tech, and Maryland to make a run to the Final Four - you can't say that about any other region.
To make things even tougher on the West, it has three other head coaches in it that have won NCAA Tournament titles before with Bill Self (No. 7 seed Kansas), Dan Hurley (No. 8 seed UConn), and John Calipari (No. 10 seed Arkansas). And if that wasn't enough, No. 11 seed Drake and No. 12 seed Colorado State are two of the most popular Cinderella picks. Just a gauntlet of a region.
đĒ Who is the favorite to reach the Final Four?
Florida has been on fire as of late with the Gators now having the second-shortest March Madness odds behind just Cooper Flagg's Duke team. With an offense that's got three experienced guards capable of cooking from behind the arc in Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard - plus an NBA-level big in Alex Condon - Florida has the firepower to win the title.
Todd Golden's team sits first in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency and 10th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom - Duke and Houston are the only other programs to be top 10 in both. But being in the toughest region on top of having minus-money Final Four odds scares me off from backing the Gators.
đ Best odds to win the West Region: -115 via Caesars ($10 to win $8.70)
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đ Which Cinderella sleeper can make a deep run?
With how deep the West is as a region, there are a few candidates to be Cinderellas and make a push to the Sweet 16. But at the same time, I don't think any program has a shot at a Final Four outside of the top four seeds - they're just far too strong in the West. A few programs that could be Cinderellas are UConn, Colorado State, and Drake.
Although calling the back-to-back defending champs a Cinderella seams strange, the Huskies have a proven track record of being the only non-No. 1/2 seed to win the NCAA Tournament in the last 18 years. But given the history of No. 11 seeds making runs, I'm going with Drake as my Cinderella from the West, especially because the Bulldogs wouldn't have to face Florida until the Elite Eight.
đ Best odds to win the West Region: +15000 via FanDuel ($10 to win $1,500)
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đ¨ What is the best first-round upset pick?
With Drake being my best Cinderella bet to somehow win the West, the Bulldogs obviously have to be the best first-round upset pick in this region. The job Ben McCollum has done in his first year leading Drake has been incredible, and he's done it with guys he brought with him from Division II.
Drake's three best players - Bennet Stirtz, Daniel Abreu, and Mitch Mascari - came with McCollum from Northwest Missouri State, and they should push a Missouri defense that's one of the worst in the NCAA Tournament. Defensively, Drake's a juggernaut, allowing the fewest PPG in the country (58.4). The contrasting styles of the Bulldogs and Tigers will make this one heck of a matchup.
đ Best odds to win in first round: +222 via Caesars ($10 to win $22.20)
đ Which first-round matchup is the most intriguing?
Again, the West is freaking loaded with mouth-watering first-round matchups. There's Drake vs. Missouri and Colorado State vs. Memphis when it comes to potential upsets, and there's Arkansas vs. Kansas and Oklahoma vs. UConn if you're looking for an enticing narrative.
Out of those four, I think the Rams and Tigers give us the most intriguing matchup simply because Colorado State is a No. 12 seed and it's favored to win - Memphis is just the third No. 5 seed to be an underdog against a No. 12 seed since 2005. It also gives us two of the best scoring guards in the tournament going head to head with Colorado State's Nique Clifford and Memphis' PJ Haggerty. I'm riding with Penny Hardaway in this one.
đ Memphis best odds to beat Colorado State: +124 via FanDuel ($10 to win $12.40)
âšī¸ Who are the best players in the West Region?
â Walter Clayton Jr., G (Florida)
The star leading the top offense in the country, Clayton began his career at Iona and actually played for Pitino there before becoming the lead guard for Golden. Between his 3-point shooting and playmaking instincts - one of just three SEC players to average 17-plus PPG and 4-plus APG - Clayton will need to be the catalyst if Florida is going to win its first title since 2006-07.
â RJ Luis Jr., G/F (St. John's)
The top scorer on a team known for its feisty defense, Luis is the key reason why St. John's is capable of winning the West. He has the ability to completely take over games and put an iffy offense on his back - like he did in the Big East tournament run. He's my Kemba Walker candidate this year as a player who could theoretically carry a non-No. 1 seed to a title.
â JT Toppin, F (Texas Tech)
Picking between Maryland's Derik Queen and Texas Tech's JT Toppin as the third-best player in the West wasn't easy. While Queen is the far better NBA prospect, Toppin is a double-double monster who just won Big 12 Player of the Year after putting up 18.1 PPG and 9.2 RPG. His physicality on both ends can energize the Red Raiders to a Final Four run.
đ Check out our complete guide to the best players in the NCAA Tournament.
đ Who will win the West Region?
I'm fairly certain Pitino is the best coach in college basketball, and maybe even the greatest of all time. The man has taken six different teams to the NCAA Tournament, has seven Final Four appearances, and two championship rings. It only took him two seasons to bring St. John's back to glory while winning both the Big East regular-season title and tournament title.
They say defense wins championships, and St. John's is ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency behind a lineup that includes two of the top 20 defenders in the country by EvanMiya's DBPR metric (Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor). This is a team that's built to give Florida's offense-first approach hell.
And while St. John's has plenty of flaws when it comes to shooting, it does have Luis, who we've seen put the offense on his back for entire games. Defense and coaching will be the difference in a deep West Region.
đ Best odds to win the West Region: +650 via DraftKings ($10 to win $65)
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đ° March Madness West Region best bets & Final Four expert prediction
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| Bet | Team | Odds | Profit ($10 bet) |
|---|---|---|---|
| đ Pick to win | St. John's | +650 | $65 |
| đ¯ Best sleeper | Maryland | +1000 | $100 |
| đ¨ Best upset pick | Drake over Missouri | +222 | $22.20 |
đŽ March Madness West Region bracket predictions & expert picks for every game
Here's my pick for every game in the 2025 March Madness West Region from the first round to the Final Four. You can also check out my comprehensive guide on how to fill out a March Madness bracket.
1ī¸âŖ First round
- No. 1 Florida over No. 16 Norfolk State
- No. 8 UConn over No. 9 Oklahoma
- No. 5 Memphis over No. 12 Colorado State
- No. 4 Maryland over No. 13 Grand Canyon
- No. 11 Drake over No. 6 Missouri
- No. 3 Texas Tech over No. 14 UNC Wilmington
- No. 7 Kansas over No. 10 Arkansas
- No. 2 St. John's over No. 15 Omaha
2ī¸âŖ Second round
- No. 1 Florida over No. 8 UConn
- No. 4 Maryland over No. 5 Memphis
- No. 3 Texas Tech over No. 11 Drake
- No. 2 St. John's over No. 7 Kansas
đŦ Sweet 16
- No. 1 Florida over No. 4 Maryland
- No. 2 St. John's over No. 3 Texas Tech
đą Elite Eight
- No. 2 St. John's over No. 1 Florida
đ More March Madness regional previews: South | East | Midwest | West
đ March Madness first-round expert picks
- March Madness upset predictions
- Ranking No. 12 vs. No. 5 seed upsets
- How to predict March Madness upsets
- What are the most common March Madness upsets?
- What are the biggest March Madness upsets of all time?
- What are the best March Madness buzzer-beaters?
đŽ March Madness predictions for every game today
- Louisville vs. Creighton prediction
- Purdue vs. High Point prediction
- Wisconsin vs. Montana prediction
- Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville prediction
- Auburn vs. Alabama State prediction
- Clemson vs. McNeese prediction
- BYU vs. VCU prediction
- Gonzaga vs. Georgia prediction
- Tennessee vs. Wofford prediction
- Kansas vs. Arkansas prediction
- Texas A&M vs. Yale prediction
- Missouri vs. Drake prediction
- UCLA vs. Utah State prediction
- St. John's vs. Omaha prediction
- Michigan vs. UC San Diego prediction
- Texas Tech vs. UNC Wilmington prediction
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