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The 68-team NCAA men’s tournament is set, and play begins Tuesday night with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

Houston, the regular season champion in the top-ranked Big 12 Conference, is the No. 1 seed and oddsmakers’ consensus favorite to win the South Region. Three other contenders — No. 2-seeded Marquette, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Duke — also have 6-1 consensus South title odds or lower and we take a closer look at all four of the top seeds below.

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2024 March Madness South Region odds: Top-seeded Houston is team to beat

Coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars (30-4) enter the Big Dance with a top-six seed for the sixth straight tourney after finishing atop the the NCAA’s NET rankings.

Senior Jamal Shead is one of the nation’s top guards, and Houston boasts the nation’s second-best defense, according to guru Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings.

For all of the Cougars’ success over their last five full seasons (winning at least 27 games in each), they’ve only made one Final Four during that span, losing in the 2021 national semifinals.

2024 March Madness South Region odds: Kolek’s health key for Marquette

The Golden Eagles (25-9) played Connecticut tough in losing the Big East tourney title game, but were without standout senior guard Tyler Kolek due to an oblique injury.

Coach Shaka Smart says Kolek is expected to return for Marquette’s NCAA tourney opener on Friday against 15th-seeded Western Kentucky.

But we’ll see if there are lingering issues for the talented Golden Eagles, who are ranked 12th nationally with a top-21 offense and defense at KenPom.com.

2024 March Madness South Region odds: Kentucky a dangerous 3-seed

Coach John Calipari’s current 23-9 crew is 18th in the NET rankings, 19th in the Pomeroy ratings and boasts NBA talent in leading scorer Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard.

The Wildcats boast the nation’s fifth-most efficient offense, per Pomeroy, and if they can step things up on the defense, Kentucky is a legit threat to make its first Final Four appearance since 2015.

2024 March Madness South Region odds: Duke has talent to spring surprise

Like Kentucky, the Blue Devils (24-8) has NBA first-round talent, led by Wooden Award candidate Kyle Filipowski and guard Jared McCain.

Duke’s current national metrics reflect that with an eighth-place rating at KenPom.com and a No. 10 NET ranking, and coach Jon Scheyer’s team will be looking to make amends after a second-round NCAA ouster last March.