The Eight Teams With the Best Odds to Win the 2022 Men’s NCAA Tournament

Less than two weeks from selection Sunday, these are the eight squads most likely to win it all in New Orleans.

March is here, which means the NCAA basketball tournaments are fast approaching, so it’s time to take a look at which teams have the best chance to win the men’s title.

Not surprisingly, No. 1 Gonzaga leads the way with a +400 chance to win it all, according to SI Sportsbook. Last year’s runners-up opened the year with the No. 1 spot in the AP rankings, and regained the top spot for good starting the week of Feb. 14.

The biggest surprise of the year, the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats, come in with the second best odds with +600. Arizona wasn’t ranked in the AP preseason rankings, but the team kept winning, starting the season 11–0 and currently sitting at 27–3 after beating USC to win the PAC-12 regular-season title.

Two SEC teams, No. 7 Kentucky and No. 5 Auburn, enter the month with the third-and fourth-best odds. Kentucky is +800 despite sitting 0.5 games back of the SEC rankings and topping out at No. 4 in the AP rankings this year. 

Auburn, who spent a few weeks as the No. 1 team in the country in late January and early February, is +1000 and holding on to the top of the SEC standings with two games to play.

No. 4 Duke and No. 8 Purdue are tied with +1200 odds to win the title. Duke has taken advantage of a weak ACC to win the regular-season title for the first time since 2010. Meanwhile, Purdue’s back-to-back losses to Michigan State and No. 10 Wisconsin will keep the Boilermakers from the top of the Big 10 standings despite spending most of the season in near the top of the AP poll, including a stint at No. 1 in December.

No. 3 Baylor and No. 6 Kansas round out the top eight with +1400 odds to win it all. The defending champions jumped seven spots after beating Kansas on Saturday while seven top 10 teams lost on that day. The Jayhawks are coming off two straight losses, including one TCU Tuesday night, and sit half-a-game behind the Bears for first in the Big 12 standings.

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In SI’s Kevin Sweeney's latest bracket projection, these eight teams make up four one-seeds, and three two-seeds. Sweeney has Purdue as a three-seed though, while No. 13 Tennessee is the final two-seed.

March Madness is always unpredictable, but if you’re playing the odds, there is a great chance that this year’s national champion will be one of these eight teams.

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