With the 2017-18 college basketball season steamrolling toward a fast and furious finish, now is a perfect time for MyBookie NCAAB betting enthusiasts to find out which teams are legitimate favorites to win the national championship, which ones are contenders and which one are nothing more than pretenders. Let’s take a look at the latest NCAA Basketball Championship odds.
Updated NCAA Basketball Championship Odds – February 21st Edition
The Favorites
Villanova
NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 9/2
For me, Villanova (24-3) is the clear-cut top team in the land and should be the favorite to win this season’s national championship. The Wildcats rank first in the nation in scoring (87.4 ppg) and have a whopping six players that average double figures in scoring. Plus they play good defense (70.9 ppg) and have one of the best coaches in all of college basketball in Jay Wright.Michigan State
NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 5/1
Michigan State (26-3) ranks a fantastic 28th in scoring (82.6 ppg) and 22nd in points allowed (64.8 ppg). The Spartans also have some crazy length and athleticism and at least three future NBA performers on their roster in Miles Bridges (17.0 ppg), Nick Ward (13.1 ppg) and Jaren Jackson (11.6 ppg).Virginia
NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 6/1
Virginia (24-2) ranks a stupendous first in points allowed (52.7 ppg) and makes scoring against the more difficult than I’ve seen in decades. The Cavaliers are 9-1 over their last 10 games and have kept four of their last 10 opponents to 10 points or less while holding three more to 55 points or less.Duke
NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 7/1
Duke (22-5) has a trio of NBA lottery picks in Marvin Bagley III, Trevon Duval, and Wendell Carter, but the Blue Devils are extremely young and inexperienced and I believe they could struggle once March Madness rolls around because of it.Xavier
NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 10/1
The Xavier Musketeers (24-4) can score the ball with any team in the country (85.1 ppg), but they’re not the best defensive team around (75.4 ppg, 258th) and they’ve taken a pair of ass-whippings from Villanova this season. Plus, the Musketeers need for star guard Trevon Bluiett to have a great game almost every time, so there’s that!Purdue
NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 10/1
I believe Purdue (24-5) is as good as any elite title team in the nation, seeing as how the Boilermakers average a solid 81.2 points per game and limit the opposition to just 64.3 points per game defensively to rank 15th nationally.Contenders & Pretenders
- Arizona: 12/1
- Auburn: 16/1
- Texas Tech: 16/1
- Ohio State: 16/1
- Kansas: 20/1
- West Virginia: 20/1
- Cincinnati: 20/1
- Tennessee: 20/1
- North Carolina: 25/1
- Wichita State: 25/1
- Gonzaga: 25/1
- Florida Gators: 33/1
- Alabama: 33/1
- Oklahoma: 40/1
- Texas A&M: 40/1
- Rhode Island: 40/1
- Kentucky: 50/1
For me, Arizona (21-6) is a pretender of the highest order that will be exposed come tourney time. Despite their status as a preseason No. 1, the Wildcats haven’t been able to find the consistency that was expected out of them this season.
Auburn (23-4) is a contender under Bruce Pearl that can score with any team in the country and is quite dangerous because they have a quartet of double-digit scorers. Texas Tech (22-5) is definitely a contender because of their elite, fifth-ranked defense (62.5 ppg) and superstar guard Keenan Evans (18.2 ppg).
I’m sorry, but Ohio State (22-7) puts the ‘P’ in pretender if you ask me. Kansas (22-6) looks like a contender – for now – until I see what happens in this weekend’s matchup against Texas Tech. I’ve lost all faith in Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers (19-8). Cincinnati (23-4) has dropped two straight at the time of this writing, but their powerful, second-ranked defense (57.1 ppg) makes them a contender if you ask me.
SEC Representing
Five SEC teams, Tennessee (19-7), Florida (17-10), Alabama (17-10), Texas A&M (17-10) and Kentucky (18-9) are all pretenders if you ask me. After watching North Carolina win their last five, I’m thinking the Tar Heels are suddenly a legitimate contender. Wichita State (21-5) is a definite contender that is looking and playing more and more like a favorite.Gonzaga is a contender, seeing as how they rank seventh in scoring (85.2 ppg) and 62nd in points allowed (67.7 ppg) and have caught fire at just the right time. Oklahoma has a legitimate superstar in point guard Trae Young, but they’re a pretender that is getting exposed at the worst possible time the last couple of weeks. Last but not least, I fully believe that Rhode Island (21-4) is a legitimate contender even though they’re not getting a whole lot of love, mostly because they play in the Atlantic 10.
Rest of the Field
- Saint Marys (CA): 50/1
- Michigan: 50/1
- Missouri: 50/1
- Clemson: 50/1
- Louisville: 66/1
- Florida State: 66/1
- Arizona State: 66/1
- Penn State: 66/1
- Butler: 80/1
- Baylor: 80/1
- Seton Hall: 80/1
- Providence: 80/1
- Creighton: 80/1
- Texas: 100/1
- North Carolina State: 100/1
- Houston: 100/1
- St. John’s: 100/1
- Oregon: 125/1
- Miami, Fl: 125/1
- UCLA: 125/1
- Indiana: 125/1
- Arkansas: 125/1
- TCU: 125/1
- Virginia Tech: 125/1
- Maryland: 125/1
- Mississippi State: 125/1
- USC: 150/1
- Nevada:150/1
- Middle Tennessee: 150/1
- Georgia: 150/1
- Oklahoma State: 200/1
- New Mexico State: 200/1
- Loyola-Chicago: 250/1
- Syracuse: 250/1
- Kansas State: 250/1
- Vermont: 250/1
- Washington: 250/1
- UCF: 500/1
- Harvard: 500/1
- Boise State: 500/1
- Stanford: 500/1
- Marquette: 500/1
- East Tennessee State: 500/1
- Florida Gulf Coast: 500/1
- Iowa State: 500/1
- Boston College: 500/1
- Louisiana: 1000/1
- Montana: 1000/1
- UNC Asheville: 1000/1
- UC Santa Barbara: 1000/1
- Charleston: 1000/1
- Pennsylvania: 1000/1
- Rider: 1000/1
- Buffalo: 1000/1
- Toledo: 1000/1
- Belmont: 1000/1
- Nicholls: 1000/1
- South Dakota State: 1000/1
