NCAA Men's Championship Odds: Field is Wide Open
Gone are the days when the Gonzaga Bulldogs or Baylor Bears were perennial favorites leading up to March.
For the 2022-23 season, parity has ruled college basketball.
Upsets have been commonplace, with numerous teams failing to hang on to the No. 1 spot. The Houston Cougars, Alabama Crimson Tide and Purdue Boilermakers have each shared the top spot in the polls and each team has been there in the past three weeks.
The betting board has reflected this parity throughout the season. Houston opened as the favorite at +800 and has remained steady around that mark, including at +650 at FanDuel. But in the last five years, it’s the first time there hasn’t been a larger favorite at this point in the season. Each of those seasons had a team listed at lower odds +600 or lower.
- 2018: Michigan State (+600)
- 2019: Duke (+210)
- 2020: Kansas (+450)
- 2021: Baylor (+300), Gonzaga (+300), Michigan (+400)
- 2022: Gonzaga (+400)
The only team to win a title from that group was Baylor in 2021, with the 2020 Kansas team not getting a chance to contend due to the tournament being canceled.
The Favorite
Houston is listed as the betting favorite to win it all, and it aligns with the college basketball advanced metrics. The Cougars are ranked as the No. 1 most efficient team in KenPom, Barttorvik and hold the top spot in the NCAA Net rankings.
If traditional stats are more your thing, Houston allows the fewest points per game in the country at 55.9 and is second behind Tennessee in opponent's field goal percentage (35.9%).
The Cougars also have a potential lottery pick in forward Jarace Walker along with a veteran backcourt of Marcus Sasser, Tramon Mark and Jamal Shead. Overall, the pieces are there for Houston.
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% Chance | |||||||
| Houston Cougars | 15.38% |
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-- | +550 | +475 | +500 |
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| Alabama Crimson Tide | 11.11% |
-- |
-- | +750 | +650 | +800 |
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| Kansas Jayhawks | 7.69% |
-- |
-- | +900 | +1200 | +1000 |
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| Purdue Boilermakers | 7.69% |
-- |
-- | +1100 | +1000 | +1200 |
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| UCLA Bruins | 6.67% |
-- |
-- | +1200 | +1200 | +1400 |
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Promo Code: GAMBLING
Promo Code: GAMBLING
Promo Code: GAMBLING
Promo Code: GAMBLING
Promo Code: GAMBLING