2022 NCAA Basketball Odds To Win Championship

After a sensational 2021 March Madness tournament that saw the Baylor Bears knock off the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the final, oddsmakers wasted no time releasing NCAA basketball odds to win the championship in 2022 with a familiar name at the top to win the big dance.

According to the best college basketball betting sites, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are again the favorites at +700 to cut down the nets next March and finally win their first championship in program history. The Bulldogs were outclassed in the title game vs Baylor on Monday night and while a few of their key pieces are likely headed to the NBA, reinforcements in the form of incoming recruits should round out this roster.

Right behind the Bulldogs in March Madness odds are the Florida State Seminoles and Michigan Wolverines at +1400. Both programs have been on the upswing in recent years and should retain key pieces for a potential championship run. The Ohio State Buckeyes and Villanova Wildcats come in at +1600 and round out the top five betting options in NCAA basketball odds to win the championship.

The reigning champion Baylor Bears will likely see a lot of key departures to the NBA this offseason and sportsbooks have tabbed them at +2000 to repeat as NCAA champs.

Make sure to track the latest college basketball odds and learn how to bet on college basketball if this is your first time. These pages will be helpful when making your wager on NCAA Tournament odds. If you're more interested in where everyone gets drafted, Odds Shark's NBA news is where you can find all of those answers.

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Who Will Win The 2022 March Madness Tournament?

Odds as of April 6 at BetUS

Why Is Gonzaga The Favorite In 2022 March Madness Odds?

Although their hopes for an undefeated season went down the drain, the Gonzaga Bulldogs should hold their heads up high after a 2020-21 season in which they had a chance to achieve greatness. The bad news for the Bulldogs, other than losing the title game, is that key players Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert, who were such important parts of what made Gonzaga go this season, are expected to make the jump to the NBA.

However, the good news is the Zags are returning some high-end talent in forward Drew Timme and guard Andrew Nembhard while also nabbing the second five-star recruit in program history in Hunter Sallis. Sallis is one of the top point guards in the country and is a perfect replacement for Suggs but Gonzaga may get other recruits to come along.

The appeal of Gonzaga for recruits and the reason why the Bulldogs should be favorites this early in March Madness odds is that they aren’t a mid-major Cinderella anymore. The Zags have won 30 or more games in five straight seasons and barring a collapse in the WCC should be near or at the top of the NCAA AP rankings come tournament time in 2022. If you believe in Gonzaga’s ability to build a championship roster with incoming freshmen and potential transfers, grab the Bulldogs now at +700.

Teams To Watch For In Odds To Win March Madness

This is highly speculative so just know if you’re betting on any NCAA futures at this stage, there’s still so much that can happen. But the two teams that should be on a bettor’s radar in NCAA basketball odds to win the championship are the Villanova Wildcats at +1600 and Maryland Terrapins at +5000.

Villanova will probably return key players like point guard Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Had Villanova not lost Gillespie prior to the NCAA Tournament, we could be talking about a very different result considering the Wildcats were up at halftime vs Baylor in the Sweet 16. Gillespie and Robinson-Earl were the Wildcats’ top two scorers and they’ll likely be in the thick of recruiting for this upcoming season after missing out in 2020.

As for Maryland, it already has the wheels in motion for a revamped roster with the Terps getting in on the transfer market and nabbing Fatts Russell from Rhode Island and Qudus Wahab from Georgetown. They will become immediate starters for a squad that already has three upperclassmen returning. Playing in the Big Ten, we’ll find out quickly if these transfers can adapt to the physicality of that conference.

What Are March Madness Odds?

To understand March Madness odds, you first need to understand the annual championship tournament played for NCAA college basketball. Each year in March, 68 of the best teams in NCAA basketball qualify for a winner-take-all tournament that determines the national champion.

The field is reduced to 64 after four play-in games, leaving four regions of 16 teams, seeded 1 through 16 by a voting committee based on their regular-season and conference tournament results. The No. 1 seed plays the No. 16 seed, the 2 seed plays the 15 seed, the 3 seed plays the 14 seed, and so on. If you lose, you’re out of the tournament. If you win, you advance to the next round with the goal of winning six straight games to win the NCAA championship.

The NCAA basketball odds to win the championship, or March Madness odds, are determined by oddsmakers with online sportsbooks with the odds implying a certain probability of a team being able to win the entire tournament.

For example, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are the top seed among the 68 teams, which means they are the March Madness favorites according to oddsmakers. With Gonzaga’s +210 odds to win the NCAA Tournament, these odds imply that the Bulldogs have a 32.3 percent chance to win the tourney. For a favorite, those aren’t great odds.

The reason is that it’s very hard to win six games in a row in this type of survive-and-advance scenario. So many factors come into play for oddsmakers to consider when it comes to NCAA basketball odds to win the championship.

Understanding The Odds To Win The NCAA Tournament

If you’re a first-time bettor in NCAA basketball odds to win the championship, the way the March Madness odds are listed can be confusing for new bettors not used to American betting odds.

After you’ve signed up at an online sportsbook that offers odds to win the NCAA Tournament, you’ll see NCAA championship odds listed like this:

The odds indicate what it would pay out if one of these teams were to win six straight games in the NCAA Tournament and win the national championship. Unlike a straight-up bet, or a moneyline bet, where there is a clear favorite represented by the minus sign (-), the team with the lowest odds would be the March Madness favorite. In this case, it’s Gonzaga, and the rest are underdogs even though each team has a plus sign (+) prefacing its odds. For American odds, all potential payouts are predicated on $100 bets.

Using American odds, if you were to bet $100 on the Gonzaga Bulldogs in NCAA Tournament odds and they win, your sportsbook would return your original $100 investment and reward you with $200 in profit for your winning pick, which is $300 in total return to the bettor.

March Madness is notorious for long shots and underdogs going far in the NCAA Tournament or even winning it all. So, a team like North Carolina may entice a bettor to consider the Tar Heels with +7500 odds to win the tournament (1.3 percent implied probability). If North Carolina was to defy the odds and go on to win the NCAA Tournament with bettors placing a $100 bet on the Tar Heels, they would be rewarded with a $7,600 return – the original $100 is returned along with $7,500 in profit.

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.

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What Is A Futures Bet For College Basketball?

When it comes to March Madness betting, considering college basketball lines and a school’s odds to win March Madness 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 NCAA basketball odds early and look at a team’s past performance, injuries and coaching/roster moves.

The NCAA basketball odds to win the championship are not set in stone and will move as the tournament progresses. If you see odds you like, take them as soon as you can to avoid missing out on potential earnings/value.