We're making our March Madness survivor pool picks and rankings ahead of the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, with the best odds from our best March Madness betting sites.
While much of the attention surrounding the NCAA Tournament focuses on March Madness bracket predictions and other March Madness upset picks, there's another fun way to compete with your friends and co-workers: a survivor pool.
The thrill of navigating a survivor pool is about more than just picking the winner, but doing so at the right time. Since virtually every survivor contest allows you to pick a team only once throughout the tournament, you want to avoid picking the top teams by the March Madness odds too early – or else you might back yourself into a corner when they're the only options remaining.
With that said, here's a look at our survivor pool picks and expert rankings ahead o f the Sweet 16, using our analysis of the Sweet 16 odds and betting lines:
Survivor pool picks: Sweet 16
We're ranking the 16 remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament from the best (1) to worst (16) picks to use as your Sweet 16 survivor pick. Odds via BetMGM.
| Team | Odds (BetMGM) | Cowart | Paul |
|---|---|---|---|
| UConn | +200 | (6) | (5) |
| Houston | +500 | (7) | (6) |
| Purdue | +650 | (3) | (4) |
| Arizona | +800 | (2) | (2) |
| North Carolina | +1000 | (5) | (3) |
| Tennessee | +1200 | (9) | (7) |
| Marquette | +1600 | (1) | (1) |
| Iowa State | +1800 | (4) | (8) |
| Duke | +2500 | (10) | (10) |
| Gonzaga | +2500 | (11) | (13) |
| Creighton | +2500 | (8) | (11) |
| Illinois | +2800 | (12) | (9) |
| Alabama | +4000 | (13) | (12) |
| San Diego State | +6600 | (15) | (16) |
| Clemson | +8000 | (14) | (14) |
| NC S tate | +10000 | (16) | (15) |
Not intended for use in MA
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Who to take in survivor pools this week
There are only two teams I have full confidence will win this weekend. One is UConn, which is best saved for later in the tournament. The other is Marquette, which faces lowly NC State in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
The Wolfpack have enjoyed an all-time tournament run to this point dating back to the ACC Tournament, but Kevin Keatts' group is on borrowed time after narrowly surviving No. 14 seed Oakland in the Round of 32. I don't expect D.J. Burns to have as much success against Oso Ighodaro (6-foor-11, 235 pounds), while NC State lacks the outside shooting to take advantage of a Marquette defense that loves to press the ball and gamble in passing lanes.
While I think the Golden Eagles have Final Four potential, I don't mind using them here given the uncertainty across the board with this weekend's matchups.