March Madness Midwest Region Odds: Purdue Carrying Role of Favorite, and Baggage

Purdue has successfully exorcised the demons of last year’s first round loss in the NCAA tournament. Now can they get to the program’s first Final Four in over four decades?

That’s the question surrounding the Boilermakers, now the -166 favorite to win the Midwest Region after opening this year’s Big Dance with three straight convincing victories. No more ghosts of last year’s shocking loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson—Purdue hammered No. 16 seed Grambling State 78-50 in the first round, laid an even bigger beating on No. 8 seed Utah State in a 106-67 second round win, and then dispatched No. 5 seed Gonzaga 80-68 in the Sweet 16.

Center Zach Edey, who returned to Purdue for a final season after last year’s loss to FDU, has looked unstoppable so far. The 7-4 post player, soon to become the first back-to-back winner of the John R. Wooden Award since Ralph Sampson in the 1980s, dropped 30 points and 21 boards on Grambling State, 23 and 14 on Utah State, and 27 and 14 on the Zags. Now only No. 2 seed Tennessee separates the Boilermakers from their first Final Four since 1980.

2024 March Madness Midwest Region Odds

Odds as of March 30

Midwest Region Betting Favorite: Purdue (-160)

Purdue is not a program awash in college basketball glory. The Boilermakers have reached the national championship game just once, in 1969, where they had the misfortune to run up against Wooden’s UCLA juggernaut and lost by 20. They got back to the Final Four again in 1980, and lost to UCLA, again. They haven’t been back since.

All of which explains why this current era, highlighted by the presence of the program’s best player since Glenn Robinson, means so much to those in black and gold. Edey is a force, Edey is a force, averaging 24.6 points and 12.1 rebounds and shooting 62% from the field. In the NCAA tournament thus far, he’s been impossible to defend, fouling out opposing big men with regularity. Purdue is also getting the contributions from its guards that it didn’t have in last year’s short NCAA run. Braden Smith and Lance Jones added 13 points each against Gonzaga, while Smith added 15 assists. Purdue has also easily covered in all three games in the NCAA tournament to this point, and opened as a 3.5-point favorite over the Volunteers.

Other March Madness Midwest Region Contenders

What gives Purdue fans nightmares? His name is Dalton Knecht. Averaging 21.1 points per game, he’s a game-changing guard for Tennessee, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest. Thanks to the tremendous elevation on his jump shot, Knecht is capable of hitting from anywhere, and he makes the well-rounded Volunteers a dangerous contender in the region. Knecht scored 23 in the Vols’ opening-round win over No. 15 seed St. Peter’s, and added 18 in Saturday’s 62-58 victory over No. 7 seed Texas that clinched a bid to the Sweet 16.

not a bad little #MarchMadness debut pic.twitter.com/1YaEJhRo7f

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 22, 2024

Also moving into the Sweet 16 is No. 2 Midwest seed Creighton, which forced overtime against No. 11 seed Oregon when Baylor Scheierman hit a jumper to tie the game with less than 10 seconds to go, and outlasted the Ducks 86-73 on Saturday in double OT. That sets up a huge regional semifinal Friday between the Bluejays and Volunteers, who are a 2-point favorite.

No. 5 seed Gonzaga also reached the Sweet 16 on Saturday, thanks to a torrid second half that produced an 89-68 victory over No. 4 seed Kansas, which was without injured leading scorer Kevin McCuller Jr. The Bulldogs are a 4.5-point underdog to Purdue in Detroit.

March Madness South Region Historical Betting Records and Information

The Midwest has seen more than its share of upsets in recent years, with No. 1 seeds winning the region just four times since 2010. Over that same span, three No. 5 seeds, two No. 8s, and even a No. 10 have used the Midwest as a springboard to the Final Four. Here’s a look at March Madness Midwest Region history since the 2010 season: