2025 NCAA Tournament odds: Duke and Auburn are cofavorites, Alabama, Michigan have best value

In just over 10 weeks’ time, there will be one team left standing in San Antonio as the men’s basketball national champion. Last spring saw UConn dominate the field once again en route to the program’s second consecutive national title. With conference play nearing the midway point for most programs, the race to the Final Four is on.

UConn and Kansas opened the 2024-25 season as the teams with the best odds of winning the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Those two programs were followed by Duke, Alabama, Houston to round out the top five. UConn currently has the 17th-shortest odds (45-1) to win the tournament, while Kansas is tied for ninth.

With the Big Dance just over two months away, Auburn and Duke (22/5) are cofavorites to win the national title. That should come as no surprise because those programs feature arguably the best two players in the sport in Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome. Broome was the betting favorite to win national player of the year, but those odds have since shifted in Flagg’s favor since the Auburn big man went down with an ankle injury.

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Here is a look at some of the best value picks and long shots to win the NCAA Tournament.

Top values

Alabama Crimson Tide

• Current odds: 14-1

Alabama has the fifth-shortest odds to cut down the nets. At 14-1, this is tremendous value. Full disclosure: Alabama was my preseason pick to win the national title, so this take is me doubling down. The reason why the Crimson Tide can win the national title is depth. Mark Sears is still one of the best players in the country and backcourt mate Labaron Philon has been one of the best first-year players in the sport. Former USF star Chris Youngblood returned to the lineup last month and is averaging 21.5 minutes off the bench. I’m a firm believer in Nate Oats and the offense is lethal.

Tennessee Volunteers

• Current odds: 17-1

After starting the season 14-0, Tennessee showed vulnerability with recent losses to Florida and Vanderbilt in SEC play. Before dropping those games, the Volunteers were the last undefeated team remaining in college basketball. The last team to win the national title as the last undefeated team in the sport was Virginia in 2019. After reaching the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history last spring, Tennessee reloaded in the transfer portal by landing star guard Chaz Lanier. The way this team is going to win a title is defense. Tennessee ranks third in adjusted efficiency on that end of the floor, per KenPom.com.

Michigan Wolverines

• Current odds: 35-1

Michigan has one of the more unique starting lineups in college basketball. For starters, first-year coach Dusty May starts two 7-footers in the lineup in Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, which creates matchup problems on both ends of the floor. Michigan ranks third in 2-point field goal percentage (60.8%) and 32nd in shots from beyond the arc (37.7%), per KenPom. Michigan’s defense also is ranked in the top-30 in both of those categories on the other end of the floor. Going back to Wolf, the former Yale big man has all the makings to be a March Madness star. His blend of scoring, defense and playmaking makes him must-watch TV.

Long shots to consider

UConn Huskies

• Current odds: 45-1

Let’s do a quick recap of the last two times UConn played in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies won all 12 of those games by double digits, which included a 15-point win over Purdue in last year’s title game and a 17-point victory over San Diego State in the 2023 championship. Is this UConn team better than either of those two teams? Definitely not. But, the Huskies still have Dan Hurley. Love him or hate him, he knows how to win in March and until proven otherwise, UConn is a good long shot to consider. If the Huskies put it together, these odds might shrink in half by the time the tournament rolls around. Getting star freshman Liam McNeeley back would be huge.

Baylor Bears

• Current odds: 120-1

I picked Baylor to go to the Final Four in our preseason expert picks. Despite a slow start in conference play which is headlined by back-to-back losses to Arizona and TCU, I’m still a believer that this team can make a sneaky run in the tournament depending on how the bracket shakes out. Is Baylor realistically going to win the title? Probably not, but the talent makes it a nice longshot bet at 120-1. Baylor has five players averaging over 10 points per game. Star freshman VJ Edgecombe is a human highlight reel and one of the best athletes in college basketball. In simple words: Don’t let the Bears get hot in March.

UCLA Bruins

• Current odds: 150-1

UCLA coach Mick Cronin has gone viral in recent weeks for his postgame rants. The latest rant included him talking about the Bruins’ brutal cross-country travel schedule which has seen his team play on the road against Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland. UCLA is coming off one of its more impressive wins of the season at home against Wisconsin, which marked its third ranked win. UCLA’s offense isn’t going to blow you away, but the stout defense makes Cronin’s team a tough matchup in March. At 150-1, UCLA has the 37th-best odds to win the tournament alongside VCU, Saint Mary’s and Xavier.

2025 NCAA Tournament championship odds