Best Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament

With conference tournaments wrapping up and Selection Sunday on the way, let’s take a look at the teams with the best odds to win the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Below we will breakdown the odds for the teams that currently are the favorites to win.

The Connecticut Huskies are still No. 2 in the country based on the AP Top 25 Poll but they have now surpassed the Houston Cougars as the top favorite to win the tournament. This team won the championship last year as a No. 4 seed but now they are a lock to be a No. 1 seed and are the leading betting favorites to repeat as champions.

This team is experienced obviously from their win last year and the top two scorers on this team are both seniors. They also returned some key pieces from last year’s team but overall are a very different squad with Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson Jr. now in the NBA.

For the majority of the season Houston has been ranked as the No. 1 team in the country. It may be a surprise that UConn has overtaken them as the betting favorite but Houston is right on their heels. A conference championship in the tough Big 12 conference may put them back as the overall favorite.

Houston is fast and plays a team game. Their leading scorer averages just 15 points per game and they have four players averaging double digits in points. Houston is deep and should be poised for a finals run.

Purdue has one distinct advantage on their team, Zach Edey. Edey is a literal giant at 7’4” and 300 pounds. No one has been able to stop him. He’s averaging over 24 points per game and nearly 12 rebounds with 2.2 blocks. He also shoots free throws at 72%.

Any team matched up with them will be focused on any way to stop Edey but this team also has a ton of shooters making it hard to double team him. Five players who see significant minutes shoot at a remarkable clip of over 43% from three. This team has averaged 84.2 points per game this season.

As of right now Tennessee has the 4th-best odds to win the championship but it is far from guaranteed they will be a No. 1 seed unlike the three teams above them. A lot will depend on how they fair in their conference tournament, which the SEC is one of the toughest in the nation this year. Still, they find themselves a little higher than Arizona who is at +1400 at the moment. Arizona does have an easier conference tournament though and could surpass them as the third favorite and a No. 1 seed before the tournament starts.

Tennessee currently sits as the No. 5 team in the country and just lost to Kentucky. It will be interesting to see if they get passed up by Arizona as we come into the final days of games before Selection Sunday.