As the only top-seeded program from the West Coast, the Arizona Wildcats have an uphill battle ahead given how loaded the South Region of the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament is. There are plenty of scary Cinderella hopefuls in the group, as well as one particular program that’s scorching hot entering the tournament who could go all the way.

Nitrobetting is ready to dish out some timely assists to our bettors all throughout the 2022 March Madness season. This time, we’ve come up with three bold predictions for the South Region of the national tournament, as well as the NCAAB odds to win the national title for several of the teams from this stacked group.

3 Big 2022 March Madness Betting Predictions for the Midwest Region

The No. 1 seed of the South region: @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/Pknt3eYaVp

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 13, 2022

READ MORE: 2022 March Madness Midwest Region Betting Predictions

Loyola Chicago Goes Dancing for Awhile Again

Rarely do we see little-known school Loyola Chicago at the Big Dance. But when the Ramblers are at the ball, they make sure they have a darn great time in it. They’re back in the national tournament for the second straight season and is widely regarded as one of the best Cinderella picks in the entire tourney.

Over Loyola Chicago’s two appearances in the national tournament since 2018, the team has made it as far as the Sweet 16 round on both occasions. The Ramblers are also matched up against Ohio State in the first round, with the Buckeyes slipping into mediocrity in the second half of the regular season with a mere 10-9 record over their last 19 games. A date against mighty Villanova (a +350 favorite to win the South Region) looms in the second round, but the Ramblers have had a ton of success against higher-seeded opponents, including last year’s upset of top-seeded Illinois.

Arizona Knocked Out in Elite Eight Stage

We can’t praise first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd enough for turning the disparaged Arizona Wildcats around. Arizona, the current odds-on favorite to sweep the entire South Region at (+140), is the third-highest scoring team in the nation and won a total of 18 games by 15 points or more this season to be widely considered as the second-best team in the tournament only behind Gonzaga.

However, the Wildcats did face relatively weaker competition in the Pac-12 compared to the more stacked Power Five conferences at large. Earlier this season, Arizona did beat Michigan and aforementioned Illinois, two teams that are on its side of the bracket. However, there’s one Midwest program that the Wildcats haven’t faced that’s a strong contender to become their foe come the Elite Eight portion of the tourney. And that leads us to…

Tennessee Represents the South in the Final Four

Arguably a more battle-hardened team than Arizona this season, the third-seeded Tennessee Volunteers captured the SEC crown by ending their season on a seven-game win streak and won 12 of their last 13 overall. Four of those 12 victories were against their ranked rivals from the SEC, namely Auburn, Arkansas, and Kentucky (twice).

Tennessee, which has the third-best odds to win the South Region at (+475), is a great foil to Arizona’s potent offense with its own brand of tight defense. The Vols are a top-10 unit when it comes to steals and they also have three players that averaged at least one block per contest this season. Star freshman guard Kennedy Chandler (13.8 PPG, 2.1 SPG) has also seen an uptick in offensive efficiency of late as well to give Tennessee’s offense a huge boost. Since the start of February, Chandler is shooting nearly 54 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc.

This is just one of the many sports betting guides that you can read here at Nitrobetting news. Stay tuned for more NCAAB game previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest Basketball betting odds on the sportsbook.

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