It’s never too early to lay out predictions and favorites for March Madness. Selection Sunday is around the corner and we’re here with our college basketball predictions, favorites, and betting odds for the 2024 season with 68 teams eyeing the top spot.
Last year’s NCAA tournament lived up to its name and it was sheer madness as a No. 16 lifted the cup and not a single No. 1 seed made it to the Elite Eight for the first time ever. So, it’s going to be tough but we’re still making our college basketball predictions.
The UConn Huskies surprised everyone by winning their fifth National Championship in school history. However, they were our March Madness odds favorite, and they pulled a ‘Cinderella‘ to pass through the midseason and finally gave it their all in the finals.
Early March Madness 2024 Odds & Favorites
The 2023 champions Uconn Huskies are the favorites to repeat their wonders in 2024 but they have a lot of competition this time, chiefly from Purdue and Houston. However, things will change when the brackets are decided and teams get on the court.
With Selection Sunday scheduled for March 17, here are the current March Madness 2024 odds with Purdue and Connecticut leading the board to come out as the victors:
| Team | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Odds |
|---|---|
 Â Purdue Boilermakers |
+650 |
 Â Connecticut Huskies |
+650 |
 Â Houston Cougars |
+900 |
 Â Arizona Wildcats |
+1,100 |
 Â Tennessee Volunteers |
+1,500 |
 Â Auburn Tigers |
+1,700 |
 Â North Carolina Tar Heels |
+2,000 |
 Â Alabama Crimson Tide |
+2,000 |
 Â Iowa State Cyclones |
+2,000 |
 Â Marquette Golden Eagles |
+2,000 |
 Â Kansas Jayhawks |
+2,500 |
 Â Duke Blue Devils |
+2,500 |
Note: These are American odds and suggest that you’ll be winning the set amount for every $100 bet on a correct prediction. For instance, if you’re betting $100 on the Purdue Boilermakers to win and they prove you right, you’ll grab $650.
You’ll also notice the ‘minus (-)’ sign before the odds sometimes. This means that if the odds are -120 for a team winning, you’ll have to bet $120 to win back $100.
Which Teams Are The Favorites to Win March Madness 2024?
Purdue Boilermakers and defending champs Connecticut Huskies are the top two favorites to ace the tournament right now with odds of +650. Despite winning the Big Ten Conference Tournament last season, The Boilermakers faced an upset in March Madness.
They were handed an astonishing defeat by Farleigh Dickinson Knights in the first round of the tournament. This year, they’re going to check all boxes to avoid such results. The Connecticut Huskies are looking to have another dream run this season, just like last year.
They defeated the San Diego State Aztecs to win the National Championship. The team saw their key players Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins leave for the NBA during the offseason. However, freshmen Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban would fill their shoes.
Houston Cougars and Arizona Wildcats are the other two favorites who could do wonders this season. The former would be looking to avenge last year’s unfortunate elimination in the Sweet Sixteen while the latter is coming into the tournament from a great run.
March Madness 2024 Bracket Predictions
The predictions for the NCAA Tournament seeds are also in and fans are already making their brackets to find out the course of 68 teams in March Madness.
Connecticut, Purdue, and Houston are rightly leading for the no. 1 seeds while North Carolina and Arizona are competing for the final spot. Each region gets a number 1 seed, which is the best college basketball team for the division.
Here are the seed predictions for the NCAA March Madness 2024 brackets:
No. 1 Seeds
- Connecticut Huskies
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Houston Cougars
- Arizona Wildcats
No. 2 Seeds
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Marquette Golden Eagles
- Iowa State Cyclones
No. 3 Seeds
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Auburn Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
No. 4 Seeds
- Baylor Bears
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Wisconsin Badgers
- South Carolina Gamecocks
No. 5 Seeds
- Creighton Bluejays
- Dayton Flyers
- BYU Cougars
- San Diego State Aztecs
No. 6 Seeds
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Utah State Aggies
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
No. 7 Seeds
- Clemson Tigers
- Michigan State Spartans
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Saint Mary’s Gaels
No. 8 Seeds
- Texas Longhorns
- New Mexico Lobos
- Colorado State Rams
- TCU Horned Frogs
No. 9 Seeds
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Utah Utehs
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Florida Gators
No. 10 Seeds
- Indiana State Sycamores
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Boise State Broncos
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
No. 11 Seeds
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Washington State Cougars
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Butler Bulldogs
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
No. 12 Seeds
- Grand Canyon Antelopes
- Samford Bulldogs
- UC-Irvine Anteaters
- Nevada Wolf Pack
No. 13 Seeds
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
- McNeese State Cowboys
- Appalachian State Mountaineers
- Yale Bulldogs
No. 14 Seeds
- Akron Zips
- UNC-Wilmington Seahawks
- Morehead State Eagles
- Vermont Catamounts
No. 15 Seeds
- Eastern Washington Eagles
- High Point Panthers
- Colgate Raiders
- South Dakota State Jackrabbits
No. 16 Seeds
- Quinnipiac Bobcats
- Green Bay Phoenix
- Eastern Kentucky Colonels
- Southern Jaguars
- Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
- North Carolina Central Eagles
Bubble Teams
Bubble teams, also known as On the Bubble, have a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament but it’s pretty low and analysts rule them out from the final tally.
- Seton Hall Pirates
- Colorado Buffaloes
- St. John’s Red Storm
- Drake Bulldogs
These predictions are based on the current resumes of teams, their previous performances, and their upcoming schedules. We have also kept the bench strength of the teams in view. The bracketology is bound to change as more results arrive leading up to Selection Sunday.
Previous March Madness Odds and Results
Now let’s have a look back at history to determine how accurate the opening odds have been in predicting the results of March Madness:
| Year | Champion | Opening odds | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Kentucky | +550 | Kansas |
| 2013 | Louisville* | +800 | Michigan |
| 2014 | Connecticut | +7,000 | Kentucky |
| 2015 | Duke | +1,000 | Wisconsin |
| 2016 | Villanova | +2,000 | North Carolina |
| 2017 | North Carolina | +2,400 | Gonzaga |
| 2018 | Villanova | +1,200 | Michigan |
| 2019 | Virginia | +1,800 | Texas Tech |
| 2020 | No tournament due the COVID-19 pandmeic | ||
| 2021 | Baylor | +800 | Gonzaga |
| 2022 | Kansas | +2,000 | North Carolina |
| 2023 | Connecticut | +1,600 | San Diego State |
So, Here’s Our March Madness Predictions
We’re going to back these odds and predict either the Purdue Boilermakers or the Connecticut Huskies to lift the National College Basketball Championship. However, there could always be surprises, twists, and turns, and that’s why it’s called March Madness.
The excitement this tournament carries has been the key reason behind its intriguing moniker. Despite having a deep analysis of every team and its players, we always have a feeling that any team can cause an upset by playing the ‘Cinderella’ of the tournament.
This is our college basketball predictions ahead of March Madness 2024. What are yours?
