College Basketball Championship Odds 2023-24: Kansas the Favorites at +1200

Current College Basketball Championship Odds have the Kansas Jayhawks as the favorite at with the likes of Duke, Kentucky, Purdue, and defending champions UConn closely behind. Read on for a breakdown of the current favorites and some other teams who may have value.

Even in the midst of football season, betting markets never take a break and can be ripe for the picking in terms of value. Especially for college basketball as each book can drastically vary in listed odds. A great reminder on the importance of line shopping, making it vital to have multiple books to select from. A breakdown of the difference in odds can be found in the table below.

College Basketball Championship Odds 2023-24

The Favorites 

Kansas ()

It was a disappointing end to the season for the Jayhawks as they were bounced in the second round by the Razorbacks. Their offense sputtered down the stretch, failing to find scoring diversity against stout defenses. They now come into this year as the favorite after an impressive offseason, bringing in a plethora of talent at every position.

One of those positions includes center, bringing in Michigan’s highly touted Hunter Dickinson from the transfer portal. This is a huge get as every year Kansas has found great success has come from great big man play. Dickinson allows the Jayhawks to stretch the floor at every position, giving them better spacing for their other playmakers to work with.

Duke ()

While some expected Duke to take an immediate step back in Jon Scheyer’s first year at Duke, the Blue Devils managed expectations as they cruised to an ACC Championship. Their reward for that was a brutal region in the tournament, eventually getting bounced in the second round by the Tennessee Volunteers.

Even after an early exit, expectations couldn’t be higher for the prestigious program as Duke retains a majority of their core. A core that includes star big man Kyle Filipowski, a versatile big man who can abuse you on the block or beat you from the perimeter. Joining the star big man is continuity at the guard position with the return of Tyrese Proctor and Jeremey Roach, giving Duke star talent at all levels of the court.

Kentucky ()

It has been a rough stretch for the Wildcats and last year was no different after an early exit as the sixth seed. The offense failed to find any sort of consistency outside of Antonio Reeves and star center Oscar Tshiebwe, while the defense looked lost at times for a majority of the season with an unimpressive ranking in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency per Kenpom.

While the Wildcats retain Reeves, gone is Oscar Tshiebwe who left for the NBA and leaves a major void in interior scoring and rebounding. Even with the sport emphasizing perimeter play, the low post presence will be hard to replicate and leaves the Kentucky interior defense in flux. Until they prove to be a real contender again, this is a hard pass for the time being.

Purdue ()

No team suffered more humiliation than the Purdue Boilermakers who joined Virginia as the only one seeds to get knocked out of the tournament by a 16 seed. Poor coaching and a deer in the headlights response to a press defense led to their downfall, now coming into this season with more question marks as to how they can all put it together.

One question that does not need to be answered is who will lead their scoring onslaught with the return of Zach Edey. A dominating interior presence who opposes his will on defenders as the reigning Wooden award winner. His importance is more than just his ability to score as he forces opposing defenses to collapse into the interior in an effort to slow him down, giving the Boilermakers much needed spacing to get open looks from deep.

Connecticut ()

After a tumultuous middle of the season stretch that was riddled with injuries and poor endgame variance, UConn managed to steady the ship and return to championship form. They concluded the year with one of the more dominant tournament performances in its history, hoisting the trophy after thwarting San Diego State in the finals.

Going back-to-back is as challenging as it gets yet UConn comes in with championship aspirations with their new look roster. Losing Adama Sanogo hurts, but UConn promoting Donovan Clingan to a starting role makes this an easy transition. With their perimeter play expected to not skip a beat, this opens up the middle for Clingan to really establish himself as a dominant presence for the Huskies offense.

College Basketball Championship Odds Values

Michigan State ()

Depending where you look, some books have the Spartans in the top five for shortest odds to win the NCAA Championship. As for BetRivers, they have them at slightly below average than the consensus market, hanging a +2000 for our betting pleasure.

The theme for this season is continuity as the Spartans return the likes of A.J Hoggard, Tyson Walker, Mady Sissoko, and Malik Hall. They have stability at every level on the court, as well as getting a healthy Malik Hall for the start of the season. With the Spartans finally showing they can stretch out opposing defenses with above average perimeter shooting, as well as returning a stout defense, they are very much capable of a deep run come March.

North Carolina ()

No team other than Purdue suffered more humiliation than the North Carolina Tar Heels as they grossly underperformed per preseason expectations. From first in the AP poll to not even making the tournament, faltering to a program low after selfish offensive play and lackadaisical defense. 

Gone is Caleb Love and Pete Nance, now shifting the offense back to the combination of RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. It’s addition by subtraction as North Carolina can base the rest of their offensive success off the in and out play of their star duo. They surround their star duo with impressive transfer players who can stretch the floor, giving coach Hubert Davis plenty of offensive weapons to work with after a year of inconsistency from the perimeter.

Alabama ()

It was a national title or bust type of year for a stacked Alabama squad who cruised to an SEC championship off the back of elite perimeter play. The issue is that living or dying by the three brings in unwanted variance, eventually cooling off against a stout Aztec squad who knocked them out in the Sweet Sixteen.

While the offense is expected to take a step back with the loss of star Brandon Miller, head coach Nate Oats has made it his mission to abuse the transfer portal and fill out his roster with talent at every position. Even with all the question marks for how this roster will perform, you can find a very valuable number at Caesars with them hanging a +6000 while the rest of the market is at +3000 or lower. A massive difference that gives you plenty of hedging options should they make another run in the tournament.