2019-20 NCAAB National Championship Odds: Duke & Gonzaga At The Top

The average bettor likely thinks they have a feel for the landscape of the 2019-20 NCAA college basketball season but according to oddsmakers, there isn’t a clear-cut favorite to cut down the nets in March, with the Duke Blue Devils and Gonzaga Bulldogs as +1000 co-favorites to be the last team standing.

Duke and Gonzaga are ranked 1 and 2 in the AP national rankings so it makes sense to have them at the top. The teams are a combined 29-2 SU this season.

Following the Blue Devils and Bulldogs are the Kansas Jayhawks, Louisville Cardinals and Michigan State Spartans, each at +1100. Kansas is coming off a brutal home loss to Baylor while Michigan State got trounced at Purdue. Louisville held serve with wins over Miami and Notre Dame after back-to-back losses to Kentucky and Florida State.

With 10 teams all having odds under +2000 and no team less than +1000, it’s a great time for a futures bettor to get some value as we dive deeper into conference play.

Duke and Gonzaga Deserve the Fave Tag

With seven combined wins over ranked teams and only two losses between them, the Duke Blue Devils and Gonzaga Bulldogs are picking up right where they left off last year. Although both teams were eventually ousted in the Elite Eight in 2019, they’ve retooled and are in prime position to get No. 1 seeds for March Madness.

Duke has better overall talent on paper than Gonzaga with freshman Vernon Carey Jr., Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt combining to average just over 40 points per game while floor general Tre Jones is making his bid for National Defensive Player of the Year. The Blue Devils have much more depth this season compared to last year when it was a three-man show of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish, but banking on freshmen to win a national title can be a scary proposition.

On the flip side, Gonzaga has proven time and time again that playing in the West Coast Conference isn’t a drawback because the Bulldogs are one of the most complete teams in the country. Mark Few has assembled a squad that has six players scoring in double figures and the Bulldogs rank first in the NCAA in points per game while shooting over 56 percent from the floor.

Filip Petrusev is a matchup problem down low for the opposition and is in the conversation for National Player of the Year. I’m still dubious that the Zags can win six straight games in the tournament but the Bulldogs deserve the respect of oddsmakers.

Best of the Rest

Teams like Kansas, Louisville and Michigan State (all at +1100) will certainly be heard from as we get closer to March but the two teams that bettors should be monitoring are the Oregon Ducks and Auburn Tigers.

Oregon (+1600) gets forgotten a bit playing in the Pac-12 but the Ducks are 14-3 SU in 17 games and have some impressive wins over Arizona, Seton Hall, Michigan and Memphis while losing to Gonzaga by only one point. If you recall, they almost beat eventual champion Virginia in last year’s tourney in the Sweet 16 and return All-American point guard Payton Pritchard to lead the charge.

Auburn, on the other hand, is fresh off a Final Four appearance in 2019 and is one of two teams left that are undefeated in the NCAA. The Tigers are rolling right now at 15-0 SU and while they haven’t played the toughest competition yet, you can’t discount Bruce Pearl’s ability to get the best out of his roster.

The Tigers are averaging over 82 points per game, which ranks fifth in the country. For a team that has this type of postseason experience and scoring prowess, +3000 is a gift for any bettors trying to identify value in a deep pool of contenders.

Unlike other years, if you can’t decide on a team today, it may be best to take a wait-and-see approach to see what the seeding is for the tournament and then place your bets.

Odds as of January 13 at  Bovada

Understanding the Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament

At any college basketball sportsbook, you’ll see tournament odds laid out like this:

Unlike a straight-up bet where there is a clear favorite represented by the minus sign (-), the team with the lowest odds would be the front-runner. In this case, it’s Duke and the rest are underdogs even though each team has a plus sign (+) prefacing their odds.

If you were to lay down $100 on the Blue Devils, you’d get a payout of $600 – your original money is returned coupled with your winnings of $500. To see how much you’d win on the futures odds, check out our Odds Calculator. It’ll show you what your payout would be based on the odds and amount wagered.

What is a Futures Bet for College Basketball?

Betting on a school’s odds to win the NCAAB championship is a type of futures bet. This is a bet you can make weeks or even months in advance of a big event. Oddsmakers set the odds early and look at a team’s past performance, injuries, and coaching/roster moves. The lines are not set in stone and will move as the regular season progresses. If you see odds you like, take them as soon as you can. Getting Gonzaga at +900 is better than getting them at +100. When you bet, you want to get as much value as you can so if you do win your wager, you’re getting the best payout.