2024 men’s college basketball NCAA tournament odds: Another national title for UConn?

If you still don’t consider the UConn men’s basketball team to be a “blue blood” after its dominant run in this year’s NCAA tournament, next year may give you another data point in that direction.

The Huskies are favored to win the national championship again in 2024, given +1200 odds at Caesars Sportsbook — and incidentally matching the women’s team, which is the +500 favorite for next year’s national title according to odds in the market.

The UConn men lead a parade of so-called blue bloods atop the futures board at Caesars, official odds partner of Bet.NOLA.com. Listed next are Duke and Kansas (both +1500) and then UCLA and Kentucky (both +1800).

Because the transfer portal is humming, recruiting isn’t over and the period to declare for the NBA draft hasn’t ended, there could be wild swings in these odds. But for now, UConn gets the nod considering star big man Adama Sanogo may return to school instead of testing the draft waters.

After those top five teams come some schools that suffered untimely upsets in this year’s NCAA tournament, clearing UConn’s path. Arizona, which lost to No. 15 seed Princeton in the first round, is +2000 to win next year’s title, followed by No. 1 seeds Houston and Purdue, both at +2200.

The Cougars lost in the Sweet 16 to eventual Final Four participant Miami, while Purdue had an even more surprising fate, falling to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round. But the Boilermakers did spend time at No. 1 in the polls this season, and 7-footer Zach Edey may be back in West Lafayette.

The No. 1 overall team in this year’s tournament was Alabama, and though star freshman Brandon Miller is expected to be a top five pick in the draft, the Crimson Tide is still the second-highest SEC team on the board at +2500. Joining them at that price is Marquette, which beat UConn twice en route to winning the Big East.

Miami and Creighton — two lower seeds who made big runs at this year’s tournament — check in at +3000 to win next year’s national championship.

The other Final Four teams from 2023 are given much longer odds. Florida Atlantic, this year’s Cinderella, is 70-to-1, and national runner-up San Diego State is buried at 100-to-1 for next year’s championship.

One of the beauties of college basketball is that every team has a chance for a turnaround in one season, and that includes LSU, which had a 2-16 SEC record this past season and is listed at 300-to-1 odds, the same price as Tulane.

Here’s the complete list of odds according to Caesars Sportsbook, current as of Thursday morning:

2024 men’s national championship odds

UConn +1200

Duke +1500

Kansas +1500

UCLA +1800

Kentucky +1800

Arizona +2000

Houston +2200

Purdue +2200

Marquette +2500

Alabama +2500

Miami (Fla.) +3000

Creighton +3000

Michigan State +3500

Tennessee +4000

Texas +4000

North Carolina +4000

Baylor +4000

St. John’s +4000

Gonzaga +4000

Arkansas +4000

Illinois +5000

Xavier +5000

Kansas State +5000

TCU +5000

West Virginia +6000

Iowa State +6000

Virginia +6000

Oregon +6000

Indiana +6000

Auburn +6000

Florida Atlantic +7000

Maryland +7000

St. Mary’s +8000

Texas A&M +8000

Memphis +10000

USC +10000

Northwestern +10000

San Diego State +10000

Villanova +10000

Rutgers +10000

Clemson +12500

Missouri +12500

Florida +12500

Colorado +12500

Arizona State +15000

Saint Louis +15000

Michigan +15000

Texas Tech +15000

Ohio State +15000

Wichita State +15000

Iowa +15000

NC State +15000

Virginia Tech +15000

Cincinnati +20000

Georgetown +20000

Penn State +20000

Florida State +20000