March Madness Betting Odds 2022

The two undisputed top teams in college basketball battled for the NCAA championship on April 5 – with Baylor triumphing over previously undefeated Gonzaga. Sportsbooks have already turned the page to the 2021-22 college hoops season, and Gonzaga has the lowest odds to cut down the nets. The Zags were +900 at DraftKings Sportsbook on April 6. Baylor had the seventh lowest odds at DK, coming in at +1700. Here is a look at March Madness odds for the 2021-22 college basketball campaign.

NCAA Tournament Odds

Odds to win college basketball’s National Title in 2022. Click on the price(s) you like to bet now.

View more March Madness futures at DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM.

2022 NCAA Tournament favorites

Favorites

Gonzaga +900: The Zags were one game away from completing the first undefeated season since 1976 before they were trounced by Baylor in the title game. While star Jalen Suggs is gone for the NBA as is senior All-American Corey Kispert, leading scorer Drew Timme should be back with the team. Also incoming is one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, including Chet Holmgren– a 7′ 1″ center that’s ranked the nation’s top recruit by Rivals.

Michigan +1200: Coach of the Year Juwan Howard took the Michigan Wolverines to the Elite Eight without senior Isaiah Livers, one of the team’s most complete players. Moving into 2021-22, Howard returns star freshman Hunter Dickinson (second team All American), sophomore Franz Wagner, and college basketball’s top recruiting class. In a coaching league, Michigan has one of the best and is establishing themselves as a perennial favorite.

Ohio State +1400: The Buckeyes were victim to one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history which led to a miraculous run by 15-seed Oral Roberts, but they return plenty of talent. Sophomore E.J. Liddell is expected to return to the team after averaging 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2020-21 as is leading scorer Duane Washington (16.4 points per game).

Villanova +1400: Villanova was bounced in the NCAA Tournament by eventual-champion Baylor, but returns a young corps moving into 2021-22. Leading that corps is sophomore Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who averaged 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season. They’re also still led by Jay Wright, who has more National Championship wins than times missing the NCAA Tournament since 2004. Nova also brings in a top-10 recruiting class, led by a trio of four-star recruits.

Contenders

Houston +1500: The Cougars found themselves in their first Final Four since Phi Slamma Jamma in 1984 but were beaten by eventual-champion Baylor. Kelvin Sampson has led Houston to three NCAA Tournaments, picking up eight wins along the way. The team’s second-leading scorer, Marcus Sasser (13.7 points per game), is expected to return this coming season. Guard Tramon Mark should also be stepping into a larger role after averaging almost eight points per game this past season.

Illinois +1500: Oddsmakers aren’t shaken by the fact that the Fighting Illini are losing the biggest stars to the NBA in Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu. Illinois still has two top-50 recruits from the 2020 class on their roster– Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller– so they should be fine in the talent category. However, the Big Ten is set to be loaded again, meaning Illinois will need to step up to the plate to reestablish their role in the conference.

Baylor +1700: The defending champions fall down the list due to the departure of several key players. Leading the exodus is stars Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell, who helped their draft stock immensely in the national final game against Gonzaga. Scott Drew has completely turned the Baylor basketball program around and the roster is still loaded with former top-100 recruits; they also bring in the 11th-ranked class by Rivals to an already talented roster.

UCLA +1700: UCLA’s “miracle run” was only dubbed so due to their rank as an 11th-seed; the talent on the roster in undeniable and Mick Cronin is one of the nation’s best coaches. Better yet, most of the talent for the Bruins is set to be back in 2021-22 including Johnny Juzang (16 points per game), Jamie Jaquez (12.3 points, 6.1 rebounds per game), and Tyger Campbell (10.4 points, 5.4 assists per game). To say UCLA has a loaded roster this coming season would be an understatement.

Longshots

Kansas +1800: It was a rough year for blue blood programs and Kansas was no exception, being trounced in the Round of 32 by USC. The rumor mill exploded surrounding Eastern Washington’s twin brothers Tanner and Jacob Grove, who entered the transfer portal shortly after almost upsetting Kansas in the opening round. Bill Self is still in charge and Kansas will always be in the conversation.

Duke +2000: Of all the blue bloods, Duke may have had the most disappointing year. Star Jalen Johnson opted out of the season following a frustrating start and Coach K missed his first NCAA Tournament of his career. With this season in the rearview mirror, Duke will do as they always have: reload and return. They signed the second-ranked recruiting class which is comprised of three five-star recruits (by far the most in the nation, no one else has more than one).

Texas Tech +2000: The Red Raiders might have lost their head coach Chris Beard to the Texas Longhorns, but they’re still in the conversation come next March. Mark Adams, an assistant with the program and one of the most coveted minds in college hoops, is the next man up to lead Texas Tech into 2022 and beyond.

A look back – NCAA Tournament regional breakdown

West

View a history of the West region

The top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Gonzaga, was a sizable favorite to win it all for months. The Zags made it out of the West Region and narrowly beat UCLA in a Final Four classic. But Mark Few’s crew ultimately fell to Baylor in the title game.

South

View a history of the South Region

Oral Roberts was the early story of the South Region as it upset Ohio State in Round 1 and then stunned 7-seed Florida in the second round. The dream run for Oral Roberts ended in the Sweet 16 as they fell to Arkansas.

Baylor, the 1-seed, prevailed in this region and won the whole shebang.

East

View a history of the East Region

UCLA stunned this region as it started things off in a First Four matchup against Michigan State. The Bruins were down by 14 points in that one before coming back to win in overtime. They then rattled off four more wins, most recently an upset of the East Region 1 seed, Michigan. UCLA was just the fifth 11 seed to reach the Final Four.

Midwest

View a history of the Midwest Region

Loyola Chicago once again ruined many brackets when it took down No. 1 seed Illinois. The sons of Sister Jean couldn’t get past the Sweet 16, however, as they fell to Oregon State.

Syracuse was another team that stunned this region, as the 11-seed beat 6-seed SDSU in the first round round then squeaked by West Virginia in Round 2. The Orange ultimately fell to Houston in the Sweet 16.

Houston toppled Oregon State, 67-61, to take the Midwest crown.

First round seed matchups, history

TheLines offers a look back at the history of all of the first round seed matchups. Check them out here:

• • • 8 vs. 9 2021 matchups and history
    • 7 vs. 10 2021 matchups and history
    • 6 vs. 11 2021 matchups and history
    • 5 vs. 12 2021 matchups and history
    • 4 vs. 13 2021 matchups and history
    • 3 vs. 14 2021 matchups and history
    • 2 vs. 15 2021 matchups and history
    • 1 vs. 16 2021 matchups and history

March Madness betting sites

How the NCAA Tournament works

March Madness is a 68-team, single-elimination tournament that annually crowns college basketball’s NCAA Division 1 men’s national champion.

The event is aptly named, considering it features a frenetic 67 games over a 19-day period. The participating schools are announced on “Selection Sunday”, along with the exact seeding and brackets.

The annual college basketball rite of spring is sports betting’s most prolific multi-day event. Below you’ll find the current betting odds for the favorites to win the NCAA Tournament, along with key tournament details and betting strategy to help you during the month-long madness.

The first 32 teams to gain entry into the tournament do so automatically by winning their conferences. The remaining 36 slots are filled by “at-large” teams. A 10-member selection committee consisting of athletic directors and conference commissioners undergoes an arduous and multi-layered process to determine the 36 at-large teams and subsequently finalize seeding and brackets.

This year, the committee will employ the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) as its primary sorting method for determining at-large entrants. The NET replaces the RPI (Rating Percentage Index), which had been utilized since 1981.

The NET utilizes the following metrics:

• • • Game results
    • Strength of schedule
    • Game location
    • Scoring margin
    • Offensive and defensive efficiency
    • Quality of wins and losses

The NCAA has a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of seeding and bracket protocol on this page within its website.

March Madness betting history

The first NCAA basketball tournament took place in 1939 in Evanston, Illinois. Since then, 36 teams have won it all and five teams have won the tournament at least five times (Indiana, Duke, UNC, Kentucky, UCLA). Since seeding began in 1979, number-one seeds have won the tournament 24 times and have accounted for almost 49% of all championship appearances. Just three times has a team seeded lower than four won the title, and no team seeded below eighth has won, nor made a championship appearance.

Since betting lines were released for NCAA tournament games in 1985, underdogs have covered 44% of the time, winning outright 29% of the time. Games have gone under the total in 56% of games. Since 2010, games have gone under the total in 70% of games and favorites have covered in seven out of ten games. Three teams have won more than one championship since 2010 (Duke, UConn, Villanova), but none have won back-to-back titles (despite Butler & UNC appearing in back-to-back title games).

Since 2000, the top overall seed has made the championship game just four times but won the game three of those times (75%). In total, top overall seeds in the tournament have comprised of just 8% of the total Final Four teams (missed 13 out of 20 years). Besides 1-seeds, 2-seeds have the most championship appearances since 2000 (7 times), followed by 3-seeds (6 times), and 5- and 8-seeds (2).

Just eight percent (52/640) of all Sweet 16 teams have been seeded 11 or lower, and only 2.8% of teams in the Elite Eight were seeded 11 or lower. Four 11 seeds advanced to the Final Four (Loyola Chicago, 2018; VCU, 2011; George Mason, 2006; LSU, 1986). UMBC is the only 16-seed to upset a 1-seed in the tournament’s history (2018), and just eight 15-seeds have prevailed (5%). In 2015, two 15-seeds upset 2-seeds (25% of all such upsets) and two 14-seeds upset 3-seeds.

Using historical data when filling out brackets and betting March Madness, err caution; stats should be used in the long-run but when choosing individual games, be sure to study matchup statistics. The most important thing to remember, though, is this is March Madness, and anything can (and will) happen.

Tournament betting strategies

The historical ATS data for each team in tournament play is just one of countless data points that can constitute March Madness betting research. Other factors that can hold considerable relevance include:

• • • A team’s late-season performances, including in their conference tournament
    • Key injuries
    • A team’s defensive proficiency, as this typically has more carryover into tournament play than a high-powered offense
    • “Fading the public” when the line appears to be significantly affected by a team’s popularity, as opposed to actual recent performance
    • Examining various tournament-specific historical trends, such as how high-seeded mid-majors have done in each round in terms of straight-up wins and losses.

Another overarching data set that could prove highly valuable is the performance of each seed in each round versus the spread. Courtesy of BoydsBets.com, below is an overview of historical first-round performance by seeds 1-16 against the number:

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Where can you legally wager on March Madness this year?

Bettors physically located within the following states will be able to place a legal sports wager on March Madness games:

• • • Arkansas
    • Colorado Sportsbooks
    • Delaware
    • Illinois Sportsbooks
    • Indiana Sportsbooks
    • Iowa Sportsbooks
    • Michigan Sportsbooks
    • Mississippi
    • New Hampshire
      
    • New Jersey Sportsbooks
    • New Mexico
    • New York Sportsbooks
    • Nevada
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania Sportsbooks
    • Rhode Island
    • Tennessee Sportsbooks
    • West Virginia Sportsbooks
    • Virginia Sportsbooks

Then, there will be a flurry of sports betting legalization efforts unfolding at statehouses around the country during 2020 legislative sessions. Thus, hundreds of thousands of potential new bettors are expected to be part of the fun when the 2021 version of March Madness rolls around.

Based on recent progress and momentum, many states appear to have at least a fighting chance of implementing legalized sports betting in time for next year’s tournament.