After two of the craziest weeks in the history of March Madness, we’re left with a Final Four unlike any we’ve ever seen.
And yet, one thing feels very familiar: UConn is the heavy favorite to win it all.
After reaching the Final Four for the sixth time in school history, the fourth-seeded Huskies are dealing as prohibitive favorites (-125) to win the NCAA Tournament at BetMGM.
Four of the last five semifinal trips netted a national title for Connecticut, including the team’s last appearance on this stage in 2014.
UConn is priced well ahead of second-choice San Diego State (+375), with those two teams favored to advance in Saturday’s semifinal round and face off in Monday’s final. Fellow dark horses Miami (+475) and Florida Atlantic (+625) round out the Final Four.
2023 NCAA Tournament title odds ahead of Final Four
(via BetMGM)
UConn priced as heavy favorite to win March Madness
It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see the Huskies dealing at such short odds after their dominant run to this point.
Each of Connecticut’s four wins in this tournament have come by at least 15 points, which had only been done nine times before in NCAA Tournament history.
Five of those nine teams won it all, most recently in 2004 when these very Huskies won their second of four championships in the last 25 years – the most by any team in that stretch.
UConn is also the highest-seeded team remaining in this Final Four, which is the first without a top-three seed in NCAA Tournament history.
Since 1978, 38 of 44 national champions entered the tournament as one of the 10 betting favorites to win it all; only Connecticut remains from that group this year.
Meanwhile, the other three teams are all trying to become the biggest long shot to win it all in NCAA Tournament history.
According to available data from Sports Odds History, the biggest long shot to win it all was, ironically, UConn in 2014, when the Huskies opened at 65/1 and were dealing as high as 100/1 early in the tournament.
The rest is the stuff of legend: star guard Shabazz Napier averaged 21.2 points across six games for No. 7 seed Connecticut, which beat No. 8 seed Kentucky in the highest-seeded final in NCAA Tournament history.
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This time, the Huskies will be the ones looking to put an end to any Cinderella runs.
San Diego State and Miami were both dealing as high as 80/1 in the preseason before reaching the Final Four for the first time in either school’s history.
Florida Atlantic wasn’t even on the oddsboard before the year and was priced as high as 250/1 before rattling off the first four tournament wins in program history to reach this weekend’s semifinal round.