College Basketball Player Of The Year Odds: Zach Edey Is The Heavy Favorite

For the first time in college basketball history, the player of the year award is likely going to be won by a Canadian. Zach Edey is the runaway odds favorite and his lead over the field is absolutely laughable.

But if you think the big Canadian playing for the Purdue Boilermakers won’t win and an upset will happen, here’s the top 10 on the oddsboard.

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College Basketball Player Of The Year Odds: zach’s to lose

Since the last update two weeks ago (January 30), Edey has seen his odds go from -500 to -2500. The seven-foot-four center was the favorite then and remains so now, but the distance between him and the next player grew significantly wider.

Edey has played four games since the last update, averaging 22.25 points and an even more impressive 13.25 rebounds per game while shooting 73 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free-throw line. 

Edey obviously had good numbers before those four games in February, but he’s actually improved his already glowing stats.

Up to the end of January, he was averaging 22.1 points and 13 rebounds while shooting at a 61 percent clip from the floor and 73 percent from the charity stripe. Now that the calendar has flipped to February, we’ve seen small improvements in his point production and rebounds and we’re seeing a much more clinical shooter. 

That’s why he’s consolidated his status as the presumptive winner. He’s not just stabilizing through the final portion of the season, he’s actually improving. The Canadian-born center will win player of the year this season.

College Basketball Player Of The Year Odds Challengers

Jalen Wilson (+2000)

With Edey so far ahead of the field, it makes it seem like these other players on the list aren’t any good. And of course, that isn’t true.

Jalen Wilson is having an excellent season for Kansas. The senior is averaging 20.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, taking a huge step up for the Jayhawks this year by adding an average of 9.2 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists to his numbers from last season. His three-point conversion rate has jumped by nearly 10 percentage points as well.

Wilson has been great this year. But in order to take this award from Edey, he’ll have to do much better in the final portion of the season.

Trayce Jackson-Davis (+2000)

The Indiana forward has jumped up a spot on the oddsboard from the last update. In the five games since that January 30 odds update, Jackson-Davis has led the Hoosiers to wins over Edey’s Boilermakers, Rutgers and Michigan. 

In Indiana’s recent 3-2 run, he has averaged 22.8 points and 13.2 rebounds. That’s well up from his season average of 19.6 points and 10.7 rebounds prior to January 31. 

It’s a nice statistical jump, and getting a victory over the presumptive POY winner is also nice, but that’s it, it’s nice. He’ll have to do a lot more before he can unseat Edey as the favorite and I doubt he’s got enough season left to do it. 

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Jalen Brunson, the player of the year from 2018, is having a standout year for the Knicks. In his first season with the Knickerbockers after signing on as a free agent, the former Villanova Wildcat is averaging 23.9 points, 6.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds and has pushed the Knicks into a playoff spot. The Knicks! 

If Brunson’s impact continues, New York could see the playoffs for just the second time in the last 10 seasons. 

How To Read Naismith And Wooden Player Of The Year Odds

If this is your first time betting on NCAA College Basketball Player of the Year odds and you aren’t sure about the difference between the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, don’t sweat it.

They’re essentially the same individual award but the voting structures are slightly different. The Wooden Award is determined before the NCAA March Madness tournament and voted on by over 1,000 sportswriters across the country, while the Naismith Award is finalized by a board of selectors along with fan voting and is announced in April.

Understanding College Basketball Player Of The Year Odds

At your college basketball sportsbook of choice, you’ll see prop odds to win College Player of the Year listed like so:

Zach Edey -150

Jalen Wilson +500

Brandon Miller +600

When there is no clear favorite due to the lack of a minus sign (-), the player with the lowest odds is the fave. In this case, though, there is a minus-money favorite in Edey. The others are considered underdogs.

If you’re loving Edey at -150 and you bet $100 on him, you’d get a payout of $166.67 – your original money is returned coupled with your winnings of $66.67. To see what you’d win based on the odds and the amount you bet, check out our odds calculator.