College Basketball Odds To Win the 2025 National Championship

The 2025 college basketball season is creeping toward March Madness. As many bettors can tell you, the college basketball odds table never went anywhere.

BetMGM opened a fresh market for the 2025 college basketball national championship just minutes after UConn cut down the nets in April 2024.

So for ambitious handicappers who like to establish early positions, here’s a look at this year’s NCAAB odds for the 2025 national championship, as well as a few notes and numbers to consider before betting.

Odds to Win NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 2025

March Madness Prediction 2025: Who Will Win the NCAA Basketball Championship This Year?

Based on the current futures market, the Auburn Tigers have an implied 23.5% chance to win the national championship. 

March Madness Favorites: Auburn, Duke Lead the Field

Auburn announced its contender status early this year, scoring November wins over Houston and Iowa State in the opening month of the season. Both teams were ranked in the AP top five at the time.

Since then, Auburn has endured its conference schedule in a good SEC with one blemish. The Tigers’ only conference loss was a home defeat to Florida.

With three top 10 wins and counting, Auburn is on pace to finish the season as the No. 1 overall seed and potential favorite to win the national championship. 

As of Feb. 17, about 7.4% of all tickets at BetMGM were on Auburn. Only preseason favorite Duke had attracted a higher ticket volume.

The Blue Devils are the preferred target of BetMGM bettors, garnering a market-leading 13.4% of all tickets and just under 20% of all handle. Yet Duke has a far less compelling overall resume than Auburn, including an ACC schedule that has dropped in quality in recent years.

Duke got the best of Auburn during a home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium back on Dec. 4. Yet if these two current favorites played a rematch in the tournament, many sharp bettors – including me – would bet the Tigers to earn some revenge.

College Basketball National Championship Odds: Assessing UConn and the Second Tier of Contenders

Dan Hurley helped UConn join a short list of back-to-back NCAA basketball national champions when the Huskies cut the nets down in 2023 and 2024. 

But after losing gobs of lottery talent to the draft, this UConn team appears to be merely good this year. It hasn’t taken the midseason leap that previous teams have, and the futures market has them priced (+3300) in a second group of contenders alongside Iowa State, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and others. 

At this point, buying UConn at this price feels like too high a buy point for the 2025 product. I’d rather hit the Huskies for more exotic futures after seeing the bracket on Selection Sunday.

The most interesting candidate in this second tier of contenders could be Alabama (+1100), who reached the Final Four last year on the back of Nate Oats’ excellent college system that focuses on the 3-point shot. 

While I’m not a fan of betting the Gators at this number, it is worth mentioning that Florida (+900) is probably the best riser of the season in terms of odds evolution. After opening at 40-to-1, the Gators’ 4.2% ticket share is higher than Illinois, Arizona, Purdue, and many other quality teams.