College Basketball Odds: 2017 national championship
Bovada has released their odds to win the 2017 NCAA basketball national championship.
Villanova was able to capture their second national championship in program history by defeating North Carolina for the 2016 title. The Wildcats odds for a repeat in 2017 are set at 8/1 – the third best in the country according to Bovada.
Bovada’s odds for the 2017 national championship feature a lot of familiar faces at the top:
- Duke: 4.5/1
- Kentucky: 6/1
- Villanova: 8/1
- Kansas: 10/1
- Louisville: 10/1
Duke was boosted this week by the return of Grayson Allen for next season. With a great incoming freshman class and the usual Duke talent around them, there’s a good reason the Blue Devils are the favorites to win it all as they did in 2015.
It’s no surprise that Kentucky is listed second as John Calipari reloads his roster every single year. After the season ended, Calipari declared that every eligible player on his team would enter the NBA Draft. New rules are in place allowing players to be graded by scouts but still come back to college, however, so some players will come back to Lexington.
The group of teams outside the top five in best odds are:
- Michigan State: 12/1
- North Carolina: 12/1
- Indiana: 20/1
- Oregon: 20/1
- Virginia: 20/1
Final Four participants Oklahoma and Syracuse were both given 50/1 odds to win the national championship.
Notre Dame, who made the Elite 8 in 2016, has odds of 100/1, which is tied for 33rd best.
The teams listed by Bovada with the worst odds to win the national title were Boston College, TCU and Washington State. All three hold a 1,000/1 chance to win it all.
Last year’s opening odds from Bovada looked very similar. Duke was the top choice at 10/1, tied with Kentucky, Michigan State and North Carolina. Only North Carolina, the national runner-up, made it past the Sweet 16 in that group and Michigan State was ousted in the first round by Middle Tennessee.
For more college basketball news, you can visit our hub page.