College Basketball National Championship Odds: Longhorns Are Good Value

Kansas took the 2021-22 national college basketball championship with a three-point victory over North Carolina in the title game. The win marked the Jayhawks’ first national championship since 2008 and thwarted the Tar Heels’ bid to capture their second championship since 2017.

Both Kansas and North Carolina are in the top 10 in the odds to win the 2022-23 national championship. The Jayhawks are tied for 10th at +2000 to repeat while the Tar Heels sit tied for seventh on the oddsboard at +1800. The favorites? The Houston Cougars hold the best odds to win their first title in school history at +700.

Place Your Bet Now

Sign Up Bonus

125% Up To $2500

Our Review

Visit Book

If you’re new to the sport, check out our How to Bet on College Basketball page. If you’re more interested in where everyone gets drafted, Odds Shark’s NBA news is where you can find all of those answers.

2022-23 College Basketball Championship Odds

Odds as of December 7 at Bovada

College Basketball Odds Favorites

Houston Cougars (+700)

Undefeated to start the season (9-0), Houston has a top-half offense and the top-ranked defense in the nation. They topped the AP poll early in the season as the top-rated side in the country.

The efforts of senior Marcus Sasser lead the way yet again for the Cougars. But if that eye injury he sustained against Florida State forces him to miss significant time, Houston might be in a little trouble.

Being ranked first in the nation is great and all, but when it comes to the national championship, the first-ranked side in the country rarely takes it – the No. 1-ranked team has won only twice in the last 10 years: Kentucky in 2012 and Villanova in 2018.

Texas Longhorns (+1000)

The Longhorns are in the 85th percentile for offense and the 98th percentile for defense in the nation. And their strength of schedule per Sports Reference is average compared to the other 362 teams. That means they’ve got a better ride through the rest of the season than most.

There’s a great chance they keep rolling through the season leading up to the NCAA Tournament in March.

At the time of writing, they’re the second-ranked side in the AP poll. The second-ranked side in the poll has won the tournament four times in the last 10 years and three times in the last three years.

College Basketball Tournament Darkhorse: Arkansas (+2200)

Nick Smith Jr., Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh are three names that could easily go in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, with Smith and Black candidates to go in the top 10.

The three Razorbacks are combining for 28.5 points, 7.7 assists and 9.5 rebounds per game, with Black accounting for roughly 50 percent of that production in each category.

The Razorbacks are ranked ninth in the AP poll but have lower odds than nine sides below them in the rankings. With that type of talent on the roster, Arkansas could easily push through March Madness and at +2200 you could make some serious profits on such a bet.

Place Your Bet Now

Sign Up Bonus

125% Up To $2500

Our Review

Visit Book

Last 10 NCAA Basketball Champions

Villanova is the only two-time champion on this list. Both times their preseason odds were quite long at +2500 and +2700, representing implied odds of roughly four percent both times. 

Only Baylor had the distinction of being the favorite through the preseason and coming out on top at the end of the season. The average odds of the eventual champion prior to the start of the season are +1930 over the last 10 years. Keep that in your cap when you’re placing your bets on the NCAA championship.

Understanding The Odds To Win The NCAA Championship

If you’re a first-time bettor in NCAA basketball odds to win the championship, the way the 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 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.

Join A College Basketball Sportsbook Now

College basketball 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.

What Is A Futures Bet For College Basketball?

When it comes to college basketball betting, considering lines and a school’s odds to win the championship is a 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.