Quite honestly, this has been a very bad season of college basketball as there are no great teams out there, but there a few very good teams that could make a run and lift the trophy at the end of the season. Not having one or two great teams means there could be an even crazier March Madness than normal. I would not be surprised to see any of these 10 teams lift the trophy on April 6th.
Top 10 Odds to Win National Championship – as of 1/26/2020 (odds via FanDuel)
- Gonzaga +1000
- Kansas +1100
- Louisville +1100
- Duke +1200
- Baylor +1300
- Michigan State +1400
- Oregon +1600
- San Diego State +2200
- Seton Hall +2200
- Kentucky +2400
Gonzaga is currently the favorite and sit at 20-1 so far this season, but the normal questions remain with this team – will their weak conference schedule negatively affect them in the tournament? This year feels different this season as the WCC is stronger than years past, they may get four bids (!), and Gonzaga has beaten the likes of Oregon, Arizona, Washington and BYU this year. The Zags will still play a good Saint Mary’s team, twice, and a good San Francisco team, twice, so there are still quality games left out there for Gonzaga.
Kansas seems a bit high on this list to me as the Jayhawks are just 1-3 against ranked teams this season, though they did beat Dayton before they became ranked, and may not even win their conference championship. I would not pick Kansas to win the title this season.
Louisville might be my favorite team this season and I think they could go on a run in March and lift the trophy come April. The Cardinals are just 2-2 against ranked teams this season, with a loss to an unranked Texas Tech team at the time as well, but they can beat any team in the county on their day.
Baylor is the best team in the nation and currently 4-0 against ranked teams this season. Seeing them at +1300 is pretty shocking and they easily have the most value of these 10 teams. If the Bears end up winning the Big 12 they will probably be the favorite, or second favorite, heading into the tournament, so get these odds while you can.
The outlier here is San Diego State who is currently ranked #4 in the nation and are the final remaining unbeaten team. It is very impressive, obviously, to be undefeated this late in the season, but I do not trust this Aztecs team against real competition when it comes to the tournament. SDSU is going to go the whole regular season without a ranked team, so it is hard to judge them right now.
Duke, 2-1 against ranked teams, Seton Hall, 2-0, and Oregon, 3-2, are all interesting teams that could go on a run, but I don’t see any of them winning a title this season. Yes, the Duke one may come back to haunt me. I don’t see Kentucky or Michigan State being much of a factor in March.
In a crazy college basketball season I am going to make two picks here as there is still nice value on the board at this point of the season. I think Baylor +1300 and Louisville +1100 is fantastic value and I am hoping all over that.