Eli’s Expert March Madness Bracket Picks & Upsets: Texas Tech Futures Odds?

The equivalent of Christmas Eve has finally arrived. I've wrapped up my bracket for larger pools as first-round March Madness odds tip off in roughly 24 hours. In this column, you'll discover my bracket picks and large-pool strategy. Follow along with our free printable bracket and first-round bets. Most importantly, brace yourselves for chaos.

Click any odds below to place a wager. Find the best March Madness betting sites to take advantage of the top promos and bonus codes for your first-round wagers. If you’re in Illinois, sign up for the bet365 Illinois bonus code. The operator is officially live in the Prairie State!

eli's NCAA tournament bracket picks

Large Pool Strategy

After completing my first set of Final Four picks, I'll share some advice when making your high-leverage selections in bigger pools. Let’s be honest: it's not about constructing the perfect bracket. That shouldn't be your priority with your bracket picks.

In a perfect world, college basketball fans (and bettors) would rack up as many correct picks as possible. However, winning your tournament pool requires a plan of attack involving risk and value to set your entry apart from your competition.

An under-the-radar Final Four selection (or two) will do just fine.

Although Duke is the most-picked team to cut down the nets at the majority of hosting sites, bracket-goers don't necessarily need to deviate from picking the Blue Devils if you are bullish on their upside (with a healthy Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown) and path in the East Region. Pinpointing which under-the-radar Final Four contenders have a feasible route to San Antonio is the other half of the battle.

Biggest Difference Between Brackets & Bets

In a bracket, you may decide to choose a 12- or 13-seed to tally an upset simply because it could give you an edge over your competition in the pool. Nevertheless, to win a bet, you may not need this underdog to win straight up.

Instead, wager on them covering the spread, meaning they must stay within the number. This strategy supplies a shield that bracket picks don't.

march madness bracket picks: futures bets

In my Final Four picks column, I outlined my optimism about Texas Tech and Xavier's chances of upsetting the top seeds in their respective regions. For context, I nearly bet on the Red Raiders winning the national title at 90-1 odds in November, but instead, I wagered on Ole Miss.

With Auburn (35-1) and Xavier Final Four (110-1) futures already in my portfolio, I added Texas Tech championship odds on Tuesday evening. As of this publication, Caesars and DraftKings have the best odds available at .

This bet can be found on our free sports betting Discord channel. Enroll your mobile device in Discord push notifications on the #roles server.

2025 National Champion Betting odds

[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query="bkc/ncaab_winner" size="100%x300" site_id="thelines"]

watcH: march madness betting preview

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