March Madness Sweet Sixteen March 27 Best Bets & Betting Odds

We’re already down to the Sweet Sixteen in this 2025 March Madness tournament. We can’t lie, despite our reasonable success so far, it has been a bit of a downer of a tournament overall. Only one double-digit seed made it to the final 16, and the rest were all top six seeds.

However, so few upsets in the early rounds likely means more upsets and tighter matchups in the later rounds—or does it. Let’s dive into our best bets for the four games on the first day of this year’s Sweet Sixteen.

2025 March Madness Best Bet Record: 11-5 (+5.02)

Note: None of our best bets feature odds shorter than -200.

2025 NCAAB Men’s Tournament Sweet Sixteen - Best Bets & Betting Odds - March 27

All odds provided by Betway.

No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 6 BYU - East Region - Newark, NJ @ 7:10PM

Alabama’s scorching offense (no. 1 in scoring and no. 1 in Kenpom’s tempo metric) has continued into the Madness, as they scored 90 and 80 in their first two games. When you consider that the 80 came against Saint Mary’s, who allowed just 61.1 points per game this year, fifth-best in the nation, it looks all the more impressive.

Alabama’s strong outside shooting should serve them in good stead in this matchup, as the Cougars allow 9.3 triples per game, 17th-most in the country. They have been especially bad defending the three-point line in the tourney, giving up 15 to VCU and 12 to Wisconsin. ‘Bama might score 100 if Mark Sears finds his range, so we love the team total we’re getting here from Canadian sportsbooks.

Best Bet: Alabama Team Total Over 90.5 Points (-120)

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Maryland - West Region - San Francisco, CA @ 7:40PM

Florida hasn’t yet to cover a spread at the Big Dance. We think this is their time to do it. Maryland is just 5-5 against ranked teams this year, and they barely slipped by No. 12 Colorado State last weekend. After a scare against UConn where they had 12 turnovers, Florida will find its footing and show why they were such a big favorite coming into this tourney.

Best Bet: Florida -6.0 Point Spread (-110)

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Arizona - East Region - Newark, NJ @ 9:40PM

Duke has been what many betting on March Madness thought Florida would be. A big, bad, reliable favorite. They have been beating the breaks off teams so far in the tournament, with wins of 44 and 23, both of which covered the spread. They are a sparkling 23-12 ATS as the favorite this year, but they’re better the bigger the spread gets.

They are 11-2 ATS when they’re favored by 8+ since the start of February, and we don’t think they’re about to slow down now. Not for an Arizona team that was lucky to get out alive after going down 17 to Oregon. The Ducks basically handed the Wildcats the game on a silver platter with a 54 percent night from the charity stripe. Duke won’t do that.

Best Bet: Duke -9.0 Point Spread (-110)

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 Arkansas - West Region - San Francisco, CA @ 10:10PM

Texas Tech has looked great in the tourney, so unfortunately, we won’t be able to back the last double-digit seed standing to make it to the Elite Eight. We ran with Cal’s Razorbacks for two rounds, but now it’s time we say farewell.

If we’re being honest, they were lucky to get past Kansas, and St. John’s couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn as their best player was benched for the final five minutes of that one. And still they barely scraped by. The Red Raiders have won with the three-pointer and without it in this tournament, and that gives us confidence in them here.

Best Bet: Texas Tech -4.5 Alternative Point Spread (-140)