Quickly after the 2025 NCAA March Madness bracket was revealed, the West region was labeled by many as “the region of death.” No. 1 seed, the Florida Gators lead the way in the region, but they are somewhat of an upstart with an excellent young head coach in Todd Golden. Florida’s star trio in the backcourt features Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard. As great as they are, all three players previously named are former mid-major players and aren’t used to being the top seed.
Also, in this region, four future Hall-of-Fame coaches are featured: Dan Hurley, Rick Pitino, Bill Self, and John Calipari. This is the most stacked region from a star power perspective, including big college brands and coaches. Even though Flordia is the No. 1 seed and the Big East tournament champion, St. John’s Red Storm has had an incredible season; let’s look at two under-the-rator teams heading into the madness.
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Maryland (+750)
Maryland, the No. 4 seed, is one of my favorite teams in this tournament. The three prominent freshmen discussed this season are Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, and Dylan Harper. Rightfully, each player is extremely talented and has a bright future. However, Maryland center Derik Queen was one of the best big men in college basketball this season as a freshman. He leads the Terps in scoring at 16.3 per contest with nine rebounds and 1.1 steals and blocks.
Although Maryland lost to the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinal of the Big Ten tournament, they still put up a great fight. Queen totaled 31 points while suffering a one-point loss. The Terrapins have a terrific backcourt duo of Ja’kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice. Maryland is 8-2 in their previous 10 games, and their last two losses are to No. 5 seed Michigan and No. 2 seeded Michigan State. Getting Maryland at +750 on DraftKings Sportsbook to win the West region and advance to the Final Four is a tremendous value. The Terrapins will have the advantage in the frontcourt against the top two seeds in this region. A potential elite eight-matchup between Queen and JT Toppin would be excellent.
UConn (+2000)
After winning back-to-back national championships, Dan Hurley and the Huskies will enter the tournament as a No. 8 seed. This is the lowest seed UConn has had in the NCAA tournament since the 2015-16 season.
The Huskies begin their campaign for a three-peat against the No. 9 seed, the Oklahoma Sooners, at 9:25 p.m. ET on Friday, March 21. UConn is a -4.5 favorite in this matchup in the round of 64 on DraftKings Sportsbook. UConn lost to Creighton in the semifinal of the Big East tournament, but before that, they won five straight games. Solo Ball has improved a ton this season and is leading the Huskies in scoring (14.6). If veteran Alex Karaban and freshman Liam McNeeley can get hot, they will have a chance to upset No. 1 Flordia in a potential matchup in the round of 32.
Tarris Reed Jr. has had eight double-doubles this season but hasn’t scored double digits in two weeks. The Huskies need more consistent production from their frontcourt to compete with the elite teams in this region. But from a value perspective, even though their team is totally different, getting the two-time defending national champions at +2000 to reach the final four is a good play.
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