March has fully delivered through the first weekend and two rounds of the 2026 NCAA Basketball Tournament. We’ve seen the No. 12 upset over No. 5; the top seed in the tournament was on the ropes late in their first game. Another No. 1 seed in Florida suffered an early exit. 16 teams remain, and now it’s time to look at the best March Madness futures bets to grab before the Sweet 16 tips off.
Sweet 16 action will tip off Thursday night as the No. 11 Texas Longhorns face the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers at 7:10 ET. That’ll overlap with the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes vs the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Thursday features four games, as does Friday. Friday’s first game, the No.5 St. John’s Red Storm vs No. 1 Duke Blue Devils, also tips off at 7:10 ET. Then Saturday and Sunday will be all the Elite Eight action.
No. 2 Iowa State to Reach Final Four (+300)
Iowa State will face the Tennessee Volunteers on Friday evening, looking to punch its ticket to the Elite Eight. They’ll face the winner of No. 4 Alabama and No. 1 Michigan if they get past the Volunteers. Iowa State proved against Kentucky, even without star forward Joshua Jefferson, just how good they are. They easily dispatched the Wildcats. Jefferson may or may not be back for the Tennessee game, but expect him to push against Michigan if that’s how it unfolds. Michigan showed weakness against Howard and has had some vulnerability on defense all season. The Big Ten Championship game was further proof that it won’t be easy breezy for Michigan. Iowa State is absolutely a live dog to take down the Wolverines and snag a coveted spot in the Final Four.
No. 2 Purdue to Reach Championship Game (+600)
If Iowa State makes it to the Four Four, their opponent could be the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue has No. 11 Texas up first in the Sweet 16. Texas is the lowest remaining seed in the tournament. If Purdue can dispatch of Texas, it’ll be the winner of No. 1 Arizona vs No. 4 Arkansas. After that, it’s ideally our Iowa State team in the Final Four. Whoever the matchup is, this Purdue team is for real. They weren’t the preseason #1 team for no reason. Early on, it was a disappointing season for the Boilermakers.
Call them late bloomers if you will, but Purdue has flourished into the team everyone thought they would be in the postseason. They stumbled into the Big Ten Tournament, losing four of their last six games in the regular season. But when that postseason switch flipped on, it flipped on. They took down Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament and then defeated two teams still alive in the Sweet 16 in Nebraska and UCLA. They won the Big Ten title over Michigan, and it’s been relatively smooth sailing over No. 15 Queens NC and No. 7 Miami in the tournament. Don’t let this team stay hot. At 6/1, they are a great value to reach the title game.
Exact Sum of Final Four Seed: 10 (+750)
This is a very fun market to get in on. Grab the bracket and advance the teams you think make it to the final four, add up their seeds, and get your odds. I’m feeling spicy, and went with some upset picks, but the great thing is you may get the picks wrong, and the number right. I took No. 3 Michigan State to upset No. 1 Duke and make a run in the East. No. 3 Illinois sneaks past No. 2 Houston and gets an easy game against No. 4 Nebraska or No. 9 Iowa. No. 2 Purdue, of course, against No. 2 Iowa State, as we’ve already laid out their cases. There are a number of ways you can hit “10,” and DraftKings is offering some great numbers on different sums if you are looking to have some fun!
Duke to Win NCAA Tournament (+380)
Duke has the lowest odds of the three remaining No. 1 seeds in what appears to be a wide-open tournament still. I’ll be investing in Purdue (+1300) and Iowa State (+1700) as well, as I’ve clearly made the cases for them above. But when it comes to the remaining favorites, Duke is the one who stands out. They clearly were the No. 1 overall seed when this tournament started after an amazing season.
Duke was tested by Sienna in the First Round. They came in unprepared, and it almost cost them dearly. But they fought through it and got the job done. Then they took TCU to the woodshed in the Second Round, and they just need to roll like they did this season, and they’ll be just fine. St John’s is possibly their biggest test left before getting to the title game. Michigan State or UConn would be a solid opponent, then it’s likely Houston or Illinois, both teams that they should be able to beat. Duke didn’t suddenly become bad because of one close game; give me the Blue Devils to win it all.
