For a majority of the season, it’s been Auburn, Duke, and everyone else.
The Tigers and Blue Devils have long been the top two teams in college basketball, and the two represent half of the No. 1 seeds going into the NCAA Tournament, alongside Florida and Houston.
Will the last team standing be either the Dukies or the Tigers?
Check out the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of March 17.
2024-24 Men’s NCAA National Championship
Duke and Auburn vs. Field
Field: -190 (bet $10 to win $15.26 total)
Duke and Auburn: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)
In terms of the Final Four, Duke is at -125 to make it to the national semifinals, and Auburn is at -160.
Now, the national title odds.
Auburn and Duke have the shortest odds, at +350, followed by Florida at +380 and Houston at +600.
In other words, the odds say Duke and Auburn are the individual favorites, but pitted against the field, they are not favored to win this year’s National Championship, after UConn won it the last two seasons.
As mentioned, both Duke and Auburn are 1-seeds entering the Tournament. And in recent decades, being a top seed has translated to success.
UConn won it as a 1-seed last season and as a 4-seed in 2023. In 2022, Kansas won as a 1-seed, and in 2021, Baylor won as a 1-seed.
Virginia, Villanova, North Carolina and Duke won the tournament as 1-seeds in 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2015, respectively. Villanova won as a 2-seed in 2016.
Outside 2023 UConn and 2017 UConn (7-seed), the last time a seed lower than three won a national title was Arizona in 1997 as a 4-seed.
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