- Duke opens as the +800 betting favorite to win the 2023 NCAA Men’s basketball title at BetMGM.
- Kentucky and Arkansas have the second best odds at +1000 apiece.
- The newly crowned champions Kansas Jayhawks are tied with the Gonzaga Bulldogs with +1200 odds.
The Kansas Jayhawks are the newly crowned NCAA men’s basketball champions but they are not the odds-on-favorite to win again next season.
According to the online sportsbook BetMGM, that distinction belongs to the Duke Blue Devils despite losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Final Four.
No Coach K? No Problem
No Coach K? No problem.
Jon Scheyer and his top recruiting class has Duke the favorites to win it all next season.@SamDCooper looks at the 2023 odds ➡️ https://t.co/VtS68e05QF pic.twitter.com/keReVMDpqN
— Yahoo Sportsbook (@YahooSportsbook) April 5, 2022
Duke will be entering its first season without Mike Krzyzewski but despite losing its longtime head coach, the Blue Devils have opened as the +800 betting favorites to win the national title next season.
The Blue Devils will have a new coach in Jon Scheyer and could lose Paolo Banchero, Wendall Moore, Trevor Keels, Mark Williams, and AJ Griffin to the NBA Draft. However, the Blue Devils are expected to reload with the top-ranked incoming class which will give Scheyer the weapons he needs to make a serious run at the national championship.
Kentucky and Arkansas are next to Duke at +1000 apiece. The Wildcats were among the early 2022 tournament favorites at the best NCAAB sportsbooks but got bounced by the Cinderella Saint Peter’s Peacocks in the opening round of the tournament. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks are coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and will parade three Top 25 recruits next season.
Kansas Wins it All in NOLA
JAYHAWKS ARE CROWNED NATIONAL CHAMPS! ??
Kansas wins it all in NOLA #NationalChampionship ? pic.twitter.com/cAnqnzi5mO
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2022
The Kansas Jayhawks won it all in NOLA but the defending NCAA men’s basketball champions only have the third-best odds to win again next year at +1200. The Jayhawks completed the biggest comeback in NCAA men’s basketball championship game history by coming back from a 16 point first half and 15 points halftime lead to beat the Tar Heels.
Sharing the third spot with Kansas is Gonzaga which was the pre-tournament favorite to win it all. However, the Zags were upset in the Sweet 16 by Arkansas and with the team expected to lose Chet Holmgren, Drew Timme, and Andrew Nembhard to the NBA, Gonzaga may not be a sound bet right now.
Baylor, UCLA, and this year’s finalist North Carolina are listed at +1400 on the BetMGM opening odds board. Baylor and UCLA were both ousted in the tournament by the Tar Heels, with the Bears losing in the second round and the Bruins in the Sweet 16. Caleb Love has already announced that he will be turning pro so the Tar Heels will hope that Brady Manek and Armando Bacot will return next season.
