NCAA Tournament 2025 Odds: Tennessee Holds on to Top Spot Entering Conference Season

• The SEC has five teams in the top 10 of the AP Poll ahead of the conference season.

• Duke, Auburn, Tennessee, Iowa State, and Houston are the five teams with the best odds of winning the 2025 NCAA Tournament when March rolls around.

• Auburn ranks first in KenPom behind the best offense in college basketball.

The first two months of the college basketball season have come and gone, with some wildly unexpected results thus far, including a roller coaster beginning to the year for UConn and the Tennessee Volunteers surging to the top of the AP Poll.

While it is still early in the year, there appear to be a ton of teams capable of stringing together the necessary momentum in March to win the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Let’s break down the top teams with the best NCAA Tournament odds and analyze which ones have the best chance to take home the hardware in 2025!

NCAA Tournament Odds 

Now that the 2024-25 college basketball season is underway, we have updated each NCAA Tournament odds favorite, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Throughout the season, these odds will fluctuate based on a team’s performance on the court and any critical injuries to star players.Bet $5, Get $300 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins.

Check out our NCAA Tournament odds table below.

NCAA Tournament Predictions - NCAA Favorites to Win

With the conclusion of the 2023-24 college basketball campaign, we will look ahead at next season and analyze the top teams and their respective odds, as well as make our official NCAA Tournament championship predictions:

Duke Blue Devils (+750) at FanDuel

Duke has been as good as advertised to start the season, with freshman sensation Cooper Flagg leading the way for the Blue Devils.

Flagg has averaged the most points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game for the Blue Devils this season, and he only continues to improve with each passing game.

Duke has a top-three defense (KenPom) in the country, anchored by Flagg and 7-foot-2 freshman Khaman Maluach. 

In fact, the Blue Devils hold opponents to the fifth-lowest effective field goal percentage and the fourth-fewest points per game despite their tough schedule thus far.

If Duke can continue to build on its offensive attack, particularly its 3-point shooting consistency, it will be an incredibly hard team to beat in March.

Win a $5 Wager, Get $250 in Bonus Bets at FanDuel

Houston Cougars (+1300) at FanDuel

To absolutely no one’s surprise, the Houston Cougars again have the nation’s top defense, ranking first in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, first in opponent effective field goal percentage, and first in opponent points per game.

The Cougars don’t blow out a ton of teams but that has a lot more to do with their pace of play (fourth-slowest team in the country) than their execution. 

Additionally, per usual, the Cougs are one of the top offensive rebounding teams nationally, sitting at 21st in OREB%. That mark isn’t quite as high as it has been in previous seasons, but it is still impressive.

One massive change for Houston has been its elite 3-point shooting, which ranks eighth (3P%) in college basketball. The NCAA Tournament favors a physical team like Houston that always plays with a sense of urgency and does all of the little things.

This could be the Cougars’ year to win it all.

Bet $5, Get $250 in Bonus Bets at FanDuel

Auburn Tigers (+600) at FanDuel

The Auburn Tigers are in the midst of one of the great offensive seasons in college basketball history, boasting an adjusted offensive efficiency rating of higher than 130.0, per KenPom.

In fact, since 1997, there has not been a higher rating recorded through the course of an entire season. 

While the Tigers are entering conference play, and have a long way to go before locking in that mark, their dominance on that end of the floor places them firmly at the top as an NCAA Tournament favorite.

Wooden Award frontrunner, Johni Broome, has been undeniably the best college basketball player overall this season; however, he actually has a case for actually being the best player on both ends of the floor separately.

Needless to say, that does not happen much.

The NCAAM SEC is the best conference in the country this season, so Auburn is sure to endure a few tough losses, but the Tigers’ elite play on both ends of the floor will consistently keep them as title favorites.

Wager $5 at FanDuel for $250 in Bonus Bets

Who Will Win the NCAA Tournament - My Pick

Auburn Tigers (+600) at FanDuel

Until teams can figure out how to slow down this Auburn offense, I’m backing the Tigers to win the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Broome has Wooden Award winner written all over him, while a plethora of talented role players including Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford, and Miles Kelly, gives Auburn enough firepower to outlast anyone in the country.

Join FanDuel and Get $250 in Bonus Bets

Who Won the NCAA Tournament in 2024

The UConn Huskies became the first team to win back-to-back National Championships in the NCAA Tournament since the Florida Gators did it in 2006 and 2007. Florida had three very talented future NBA players on those teams: Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer.

NCAA Tournament History

The NCAA Tournament was founded in 1939, making it 85 years since the inception of one of the most popular sporting events in the world. In its beginning stages, the NCAA Tournament only had eight teams but has since expanded to 68 teams as of 2011, when the “First Four” games were introduced. There are two ways for teams to get into the NCAA Tournament: winning their conference tournament or receiving an at-large bid.

There are 32 conferences in Division I basketball, meaning 32 teams punch their ticket before “Selection Sunday,” completely avoiding the “sweat” of waiting to hear their name called. The remaining 36 teams are “at-large,” which is awarded for having a successful season and winning meaningful games.

Despite having not won a National Championship since 1995, the UCLA Bruins have the most titles of any college basketball team, with 11 titles. During his tenure, legendary UCLA head coach John Wooden won 10 National Championships with the Bruins. Kentucky (8), North Carolina (6), Duke (5), UConn (5), and Indiana (5) rank second through fourth (three-way tie), respectively. 

Past NCAA Tournament Winners

Listed below are the past 15 NCAA Tournament champions, starting with the most recent champions. Take a look.

How to Choose the Best Sportsbook for Betting on the NCAA Tournament

Several factors determine how to choose the best sportsbook for betting on the NCAA Tournament. First, you should always consider which sportsbook has the best odds for the bets you want to place. If you wish to place a number of bets during the NCAA Tournament, it might make sense to have multiple sportsbooks to ensure you get the best value possible.

Beyond finding out who has the best odds, you should also consider which sportsbooks offer the best welcome bonus, what their payment options are for depositing and withdrawing funds, the user interface of their apps, and much more!

The table below details some of the advantages of BetMGM, Caesars, and FanDuel. Check it out.

How to Read NCAA Tournament Winner Odds

Understanding odds can get confusing if you are newer to the betting scene. If a team’s betting odds have a minus in front of them, they are a favorite; if the betting odds have a plus in front, they are an underdog.

For example, if the Houston Cougars are -115 to make the Final Four, then they are considered a favorite (greater than 50% chance of making it). You would have to bet $115 to win $100.

However, if you are betting the Purdue Boilermakers to win the National Championship at +750, you would only have to bet $100 to win $750 because they are significant underdogs to win six consecutive games in the NCAA Tournament.