The college football action is just starting to heat up heading into Week 4, but it’s never too early to look ahead at the college basketball season. There are going to be 68 teams that make the NCAA Tournament next March, but there are only a handful of teams that actually have a chance to win it all.
While this is a sport that always seems to have a ton of parity, there are five teams that are clearly ahead of the pack. Here is a look at the preseason top five teams heading into the 2023-24 season and the odds for each team to win the national championship.
Check out the full NCAAB 2023 odds over on Bookmaker
Michigan State Spartans (+1600)
Most people believe that the Purdue Boilermakers are going to be the clear class of the Big Ten Conference this season, but that team ended last year by being upset by a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament. It’s actually going to be the Michigan State Spartans that win the Big Ten, and this team can go on a big run in March.
Head coach Tom Izzo returns a good chunk of his team that made it to the Sweet 16 last season, but he’s also added a ton of talent. The Spartans are going to be able to score with the best of them, and they always play with a ton of toughness.
UConn Huskies (+1400)
The UConn Huskies enter the season as the defending champions, and they return plenty of talent from that team. UConn will have to prove that they can score on the perimeter, but with odds at +1400, it might be worth betting on them to get it done.
The Huskies should make another run to the Final Four as they are going to play with enough pace to drive teams crazy. Even though UConn lost some talent, they are going to have a shot to win another championship.
Kentucky Wildcats (+1000)
The Kentucky Wildcats have not been in position to win the national championship in recent years, but that won’t be the case this year. John Calipari has once again brought in a ton of talent, and he finally has found some shooters.
The Wildcats are going to have navigate through a very tough SEC schedule throughout the regular season, but that will only make this team better. Kentucky is not going to be fun to play in March as Coach Calipari will have this team ready to win big.
Kansas Jayhawks (+900)
The Kansas Jayhawks are going to enter the season as the betting favorites to win the national championship next year, and they have the talent to get that done. Hunter Dickinson has joined the roster at Kansas, and he is one of the best players in the paint.
Head coach Bill Self knows how to win in March, and this team is going to cruise to another Big 12 Championship. The Jayhawks are going to have to prove that they can make shots with consistency, but they should kill teams in the paint.
Duke Blue Devils (+1400)
The Duke Blue Devils are going to be the best college basketball team in the country this season under Jon Scheyer. Duke started to show some glimpses of that a season ago, and they are bringing nearly everything back.
Kyle Filipowski should be one of the best players in the country this season, and he will lead this team on a big run. Duke has odds set at +1400 to win the national championship this season, and you want to take advantage of that value.
