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College Basketball Top-25 Betting Rankings by Title Odds

David Caraviello for Bookies.com

David Caraviello  | 4 mins

College Basketball Top-25 Betting Rankings by Title Odds

A new college basketball season is upon us, and the game’s power structure looks quite different than it did this past March. Zion Williamson and Duke’s other fantastic freshmen all dribbled off to the NBA, as did three starters on national champion Virginia. The preseason No. 1 is an established power that’s never been in that position before.


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While it’s not all different — Kentucky, Kansas, and a lot of other familiar names promise to contend once again — there’s no clear-cut favorite. And for bettors, there’s potential value to be found deeper in the pack; consider that Virginia opened with +1500 college basketball betting odds last year.

College Basketball Week 2 Top 25 By Odds

TeamOdds
1. Michigan State+750
2. Kentucky+800
3. Duke+850
4. Kansas+1200
5. Louisville+1400
6. North Carolina+1400
7. Florida+1600
8. Virginia+1700
9. Gonzaga+1900
10. Maryland+2000
T11. Memphis+2200
T11. Villanova+2200
13. Oregon+3000
14. Texas Tech+3200
15. Arizona+3500
T16. Baylor+3900
T16. Ohio State+3900
T18. Michigan +4500
T18. Texas +4500
T20. Texas+4500
T20. Auburn+5000
T20. Florida State+5000
T20. Tennessee+5000
T20. Washington+5000
T20. Purdue+5000

All odds via FanDuel. Click here for daily college basketball odds.

Meet Your No. 1

At the top of the heap is Michigan State, No. 1 in the AP poll and the favorite for the 2020 championship at +750 college basketball futures odds. The Spartans are a veteran squad headlined by junior guard Cassius Winston, the early favorite for player of the year, who averaged 18.8 points per game last season despite a bad knee.

Winston’s backcourt mate Joshua Langford is also back, as are forwards Xavier Tillman and Kyle Ahrens. That’s an immense amount of returning talent in the one-and-done era, especially when you consider how many recent champions — including each of the last four — have been powered by upperclassmen.

Familiar names at 2 and 3

As usual, Kentucky said goodbye to several NBA-bound stars after last season and welcomed one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. But the Wildcats hold the second-best preseason odds (+800) because they also return a core of veteran from last season. Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley and Nick Richards might not be familiar names, but they provide coach John Calipari with a balance we’ve rarely seen in Lexington.

College Basketball Top-25 Betting Rankings by Title Odds 1
Tre Jones brings a veteran presence to what is otherwise a very young Duke team.

At Duke, Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Marques Bolden and Cam Reddish are all gone. But the Blue Devils hold the third-best preseason odds (+900) for a reason: Coach K inked another loaded recruiting class to go along with his lone holdover, point guard Tre Jones. Freshmen like Vernon Carey Jr. and Matthew Hurt give the Devils a legitimate Final Four chance even if they lack all the hype of last season.

Notables in the Top 10

The return of 7-foot center Udoka Azubuike, who missed much of last season with a hand injury, is a big reason behind Kansas’ +1200 odds, fourth-best on the board — though the Jayhawks will play with the shadow of NCAA probation looming over them.

Virginia at +1700 has the eighth-best odds, returning starters Mamadi Diakite, Braxton Key and Kihei Clark, along with Tony Bennett’s clockwork system. With seventh-best odds at +1600, Florida added Virginia Tech transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. to a squad that also boasts three returning starters and a top-10 recruiting class. Another +1700 bet, Louisville, has returned to prominence under Chris Mack and stocked its roster with graduate transfers and elite recruits.

About the Author

David Caraviello for Bookies.com
David Caraviello
Veteran sports journalist David Caraviello has covered college football, college basketball, motorsports and golf, covering all three US golf majors, the Daytona 500 and SEC football.