BY ZACH EWING | Home Field Sports
Madness has truly come to March. For the first time ever, there are no No. 1 seeds remaining for the Elite Eight of the men’s NCAA tournament.
Pre-tournament favorites Alabama and Houston were bounced in the Sweet 16 on Friday night by No. 5 seeds San Diego State and Miami, respectively. The other No. 1s, reigning champion Kansas and Purdue, didn’t even survive the first weekend.
So with all that carnage, who’s the favorite to win the national championship at the Final Four in Houston on April 3? Is it the only remaining No. 2 seed, Texas? Or what about UConn and Gonzaga, which have survived the ultra-tough West Region?
The answer is Texas and UConn, who come in as +350 co-favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook. Then come Creighton and Gonzaga, both +500.
Thing is, most of those favorites are on the same half of the bracket. One of either San Diego State, Creighton, Florida Atlantic or Kansas State will play for the national championship. Three of those teams had never even made the Elite Eight before; K-State has, but the Wildcats haven’t been to a Final Four since 1964.
So it’s wide open out there, with all four remaining teams at +650 odds or better (for reference, that’s about the number the preseason national title favorite has each year), and none worse than +1600 (Florida Atlantic).
Here are the complete national title odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, as of Saturday morning:
UConn +350
Texas +350
Gonzaga +500
Creighton +500
Kansas State +650
San Diego State +950
Miami +1200
Florida Atlantic +1600
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