2022 NCAA March Madness Odds

And then there were four. The greatest basketball tournament in the world has been whittled down to the Final Four teams for NCAA March Madness odds with the Duke Blue Devils now favored to cut down the nets at the conclusion of the championship game on April 4

According to the latest NCAA men’s basketball odds to win the championship from BetMGM, Duke is the likeliest team to win it all at +160 and win its first college basketball championship since 2015. The Blue Devils have been a fixture for odds to win March Madness all season and are now two wins away from sending soon-to-be retired head coach Mike Krzyzewski into the sunset as champion.

Right behind Duke is the lone 1-seed team to make it this far in the Kansas Jayhawks at +180. The Jayhawks have been impeccable in March, winning nine straight games in March Madness tourney, the Big12 tourney and the regular season. They’ll match up with the Villanova Wildcats in the Final Four semifinal, a team that is no stranger to putting up championship banners recently as they’ve won the March Madness tournament in 2016 and 2018. ‘Nova has +475 odds to take down Kansas and the winner of the Duke-North Carolina semifinal.

Last, but certainly not least, are the North Carolina Tar Heels at +500, who are in their first year with new head coach Hubert Davis and made the Final Four for the first time since 2017, when they won it all. The Tar Heels dispatched the memorable Saint Peter’s Peacocks to seal their ticket to the Final Four and will now face hated rival Duke in the March Madness tournament, a first for these historic programs.

With over 350 Division 1 men’s basketball teams now down to four, let’s take a look at the full 2022 March Madness odds to win the college basketball national champion :

Who Will Win the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship?

Here are the current odds to win the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball national championship, per BetMGM.

Why is Duke the favorite in 2022 NCAA Championship odds?

Although a storied program like the Duke Blue Devils haven’t won an NCAA college basketball national championship in recent years, the program has always been a fixture in March Madness odds due to the high-level of recruits they get along with the presence of hall-of-fame coach, Mike Krzyzewski. The former was always a work in progress because finding the right mixture of one-and-done recruits is a bit of a crapshoot when it comes to the tourney but this crop of talent compliments each other quite nicely which is why it makes sense for Duke to be favored for odds to win the NCAA championship.

The Blue Devils retooled with three McDonalds All-Americans in Paulo Banchero, AJ Griffin and Mark Williams this past offseason and this trio compliments each other to allow the upperclassmen fit in too like Wendell Moore Jr.  Now, Duke is peaking at the perfect time and it could be argued it has the best collection of talent left amongst the four teams. 

The icing on the cake for this run is for Coach K, who is retiring after the tournament and broke the record for most Final Four appearances by a head coach that was long held by the legendary UCLA coach, John Wooden.  At +160, its not great value for wager on Duke at this stage as you might be able to in-play and live bet the upcoming games to get better overall odds. 

Also, let’s not just gloss over Duke’s upcoming opponent, a team that will have no fear facing this program in the North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC’s run to the Final Four has been a gauntlet of sorts by taking down defending champion Baylor and UCLA, a team that went to the semifinal in 2021. The Tar Heels also pulled off the upset late in the season by beating Duke in its final home game with Coach K on the sidelines. Bad blood is an understatement. 

At +500, based on pedigree alone, it would be worth wagering on North Carolina but from a talent standpoint, they can go toe-to-toe with Duke. Armando Bacot is the lone center left in the Final Four that is a matchup nightmare in the post and the Tar Heels backcourt in Caleb Love and RJ Davis has been sharpshooting the entire tourney from behind the arc. In a one-game elimination matchup, talent isn’t always the deciding factor so fade UNC with caution. 

Kansas Jayhawks Can’t Be Overlooked for 2022 March Madness Odds 

After winning the Big 12 tournament and re-emerging as a NCAA Championship odds contender, the Kansas Jayhawks have +180 odds to win their first championship since 2008. The Jayhawks made quick work of the Miami Hurricanes in the Elite Eight to advance to their second Final Four since 2018.  Although games with Creighton and Providence were close, the final score doesn’t indicate how Kansas didn’t trail in either second half of those games. 

The main part of why bettors should be considering Kansas is the fact they’ve likely got an easier semifinal matchup vs. Villanova to get to the final. ‘Nova is likely to miss senior Justin Moore for the remainder of the tourney due to a knee injury and the Wildcats were already playing a seven-man rotation. I trust in head coach Jay Wright to get his guys ready to play but at some point, depth will be an issue to replace a 15-point scorer. 

Although it’s near-impossible to just dismiss Villanova’s chances, the team will be hard-pressed to match up with the Jayhawks, whose rotation goes deep with more size in the frontcourt. Villanova is only +475 and should probably be closer to +1000 based on the latest injury news.

Understanding the Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament 

If you’re a first-time bettor in NCAA basketball odds to win the championship, the way the March Madness odds are listed can be confusing for new bettors not used to American betting odds.

After you’ve signed up at an sportsbook that offers odds to win the NCAA Tournament, you’ll see NCAA championship odds listed like this:

Gonzaga +300
Arizona +600
Kentucky +850
Kansas +950
Baylor +1200

These odds indicate what it would pay out if one of these teams were to win six straight games in the NCAA Tournament and win the national championship. Since these are American odds, the numbers beside each team show what a bettor would win if they were to bet $100 on a respective team. The team with the lowest number beside them is considered the betting favorite. In this case, it’s the Gonzaga Bulldogs at +300.

Using American odds, if you were to bet $100 on the Gonzaga Bulldogs in NCAA Tournament odds and they win, your sportsbook would pay you $400 for your winning pick – your $100 is returned and the book would pay you $300 in profit.

Use the FTNBets Parlay Calculator to find and convert odds and help you understand potential payouts.