March Madness odds: Houston among early betting favorites to win 2025 NCAA title
With the 2024-25 college basketball season just two weeks away, fans are taking a look at the early favorites to make the Final Four - and win the 2025 NCAA men's basketball national title.
Four teams have emerged as the clear frontrunners this season: Duke, Houston, Kansas and UConn.
One of these schools doesn't belong with the others.
The two-time reigning champion UConn Huskies are trying to do something that hasn't been done since John Wooden's UCLA dynasty - win three in a row. Duke and Kansas, meanwhile, are trying to reclaim their spots atop a throne they've occupied a combined 13 times.
Then there's Houston.
The Cougars have never won a national championship, and haven't been to the title game since the Phi Slama Jama days 40 years ago.
But the oddsmakers think this could be the Cougars' year.
Led by fifth-year seniors L.J. Cryer and J'Wan Roberts, Kelvin Sampson's team is returning 10-1 odds to win the national title. The only team with better odds is Duke at 9.5-1. Kansas also has 10-1 odds, and UConn's odds are 11-1.
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.)
Houston opens its season on Nov. 4 against Jackson State, then faces its first test on Nov. 9 vs. No. 11 Auburn.
It's a safe bet the Cougars aren't looking ahead, but it's worth noting where the 2025 Final Four is beind held: The Alamodome in San Antonio, a three-hour drive from Houston's campus.
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.