The 2024-25 men’s college basketball season is still months away, but oddsmakers are already handicapping which teams have the best shot at cutting down the nets next April. Three of the sport’s blue blood programs – Duke, UConn, and Kansas – have emerged as the early betting favorites to win the national championship.
Duke Edges Out UConn, Kansas as Preseason Title Favorite
The Duke Blue Devils currently sit atop the odds board at ESPN BET, listed at 9-1 to win their sixth national title. Head coach Jon Scheyer welcomes the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class to Durham, headlined by generational prospect Cooper Flagg. The 7-footer is already being projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft and gives the Blue Devils a potential game-changer in the paint.
Close on Duke’s heels are the two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies at 10-1. Head coach Dan Hurley stunned the basketball world by spurning overtures from the Los Angeles Lakers to remain in Storrs, where he’ll look to lead UConn to an unprecedented third straight title. The Huskies return a strong core led by All-American candidate Tarique Eastmond, setting the stage for a potential threepeat.
Rounding out the top three betting choices are the Kansas Jayhawks at 11-1. Bill Self’s squad will be anchored by the preseason favorite for National Player of the Year, center Hunter Dickinson. The Michigan transfer dominated the Big Ten last season and now brings his talents to Lawrence in pursuit of a championship.
Second Tier of Contenders Chasing the Favorites
While Duke, UConn, and Kansas have separated from the pack a bit in the betting markets, several other high-profile programs are lurking as viable title threats:
- Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) – Senior point guard Mark Sears bypassed the NBA Draft for one more run with a loaded Tide roster.
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-1) – The ‘Zags are still chasing that elusive first national title and have the talent to be in the mix again.
- Houston Cougars (16-1) – Kelvin Sampson continues to work wonders with the Cougars, who look primed for another deep March run.
According to sources, betting action has been very evenly distributed among Duke, UConn, and Kansas so far. Those three blue bloods have accounted for nearly half the early money wagered at ESPN BET. Bettors are clearly expecting the trio of traditional powers to be in the championship hunt all season long.
UConn Bucked the Odds En Route to Back-to-Back Titles
While the Huskies are one of the top choices this year, that certainly wasn’t the case entering the previous two seasons. In 2022-23, UConn tipped off at a distant 60-1 to win the title, while they were a more modest 22-1 long shot last year. All the Huskies did was make those odds look silly en route to cutting down the nets in Houston and San Diego. UConn will almost assuredly not sneak up on the betting market if they position themselves for a threepeat this time around.
At this point, handicapping the UConn program is a challenge given how they’ve outperformed expectations lately. Oddsmakers likely will be quicker to adjust the Huskies’ odds this season than they were in the last two years.
– A source familiar with the situation
Even with a slew of experienced teams chasing them, the upstart Huskies served notice that they aren’t going away any time soon.
Preseason Favorites’ March Struggles
As bullish as the oddsmakers appear to be on Duke this preseason, college basketball bettors would be wise to exercise some caution. The last preseason favorite to go on to win the national title was the 2008-09 North Carolina team that featured future NBA players like Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Danny Green. Since then, every team that has been the odds on favorite to win it all has fallen short.
In fact, no team that has been one of the top three betting favorites entering a season has won the title since that UNC squad in 2019:
| Year | Favorite | Champion |
| 2021 | Kentucky (9-1) | Kansas (12-1) |
| 2022 | Kansas (10-1) | Arizona (15-1) |
| 2023 | Gonzaga (8-1) | UConn (60-1) |
| 2024 | Duke (11-2) | UConn (22-1) |
So while Duke, UConn, and Kansas may look like solid bets on paper, recent history suggests celebrating their positioning as the early favorites would be premature. There’s a ton of basketball to be played between now and the 2025 Final Four in Memphis, and college hoops has taught us to expect the unexpected in March.
