Odds to Win NCAA Tournament

The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament brought us plenty of excitement. Saint Peter’s established itself as the Cinderella school of this tournament, knocking off Kentucky in the first round and Murray State in the second round as a No. 15 seed. The Peacocks are only the third No. 15 seed to make it to the Sweet 16, and they have an opportunity to break new ground by becoming the first No. 15 seed to make the Elite Eight with a win over Purdue.

However, Gonzaga remains the overall favorite to win the national championship at SugarHouse Sportsbook. The Bulldogs were the favorite heading into March Madness and were given the top overall seed, but they face a tricky Sweet 16 showdown with Arkansas this week.

Odds to Win NCAA Tournament at SugarHouse Sportsbook

Gonzaga +200
Kansas +400
Arizona +500
Houston +800
Purdue +900
Villanova +1000
Duke +1000
Texas Tech +1200
UCLA +1800
North Carolina +2000
Arkansas +5000
Michigan +5000
Iowa State +6600
Miami (FL) +6600
Providence +6600

Gonzaga has failed to cover any of its last five games by the NCAAB betting odds. The Bulldogs were pushed for 30 minutes by No. 16 Georgia State in the first round on St. Patrick’s Day, and they had to survive a real scare from a talented Memphis team in the second round. Chet Holmgren has been up and down through two games, so it’s been Drew Timme that has been the leader for the Zags. Gonzaga is looking eerily shaky just as we saw last year, making the Bulldogs a stayaway as the favorite.

The team with the easiest path to the Final Four looks to be Kansas. The Jayhawks are now an odds-on favorite per the college basketball futures odds to win the Midwest Region as Providence is seen as a bad No. 4 seed, and both Miami (FL) and Iowa State are double-digit seeds. Ochai Agbaji has yet to take over a game, but he hasn’t needed to as Kansas has other strong players like Arizona State transfer Remy Martin and Jalen Wilson.

Conversely, Arizona won’t find it easy to get to the Final Four. The Wildcats must get past a very good Houston team in the Sweet 16, and they will likely face a battle-tested Villanova in the Elite Eight. They needed overtime and some help to get past TCU in the second round, but Bennedict Mathurin rose to the occasion and Christian Koloko had his best game of the season. Koloko went 12 of 13 from the floor and had 12 rebounds for Arizona. The three-point shooting must be better going forward though as Mathurin and Kerr Kriisa combined to go just 4-21 from beyond the arc against TCU.

We pointed out last week that Houston was the most tempting longshot on the board with odds of 33-1 to win the national championship at SugarHouse Sportsbook. If you jumped on the Cougars at that price, you are sitting pretty as Houston is down to 8-1 to win it all. The Cougars are now the second-rated team in the nation by Ken Pomeroy’s numbers, as they had no trouble putting away UAB or Illinois in their first two games. Houston has been very impressive as this team has dealt with injuries to two of its best players and continues to thrive.

Villanova is worth a look at 10-1 to win the national championship. The Wildcats beat both Delaware and Ohio State by double digits, and they aren’t expected to have much trouble with Michigan in the Sweet 16. This is one of the most efficient offenses in the country, and Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels are proven performers.

Currently, the most value on the board lies with North Carolina. The Tar Heels are the only team to knock off a No. 1 seed at this point, and they have two big men that can give opponents fits in Brady Manek and Armando Bacot. They obliterated Marquette in their first-round game, and they are finally playing at a high level. North Carolina is a short underdog by the CBB betting odds against UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen, but this is a very winnable game for the Tar Heels.