Updated College Basketball Championship Odds – January 19th Edition

With the 2017-18 NCAAB season inching closer to the end of the regular season and start of both, conference championship play – and eventually, March Madness, now is a perfect time to take a look at the most recent College Basketball Championship odds to win it all in 2018. Thanks to the expert NCAA basketball betting analysis that you’re about to get on some of the top favorites, a handful of middle-of-the-pack contenders and my top longshot selection, you could cash in big on your futures odds wager once March Madness gets underway.

Updated College Basketball Championship Odds – January 19th Edition

The Favorites

Duke

• College Basketball Championship Odds: 6/1

The fifth-ranked Blue Devils (16-2) have won three straight at the time of this writing including an impressive 83-75 win over nationally-ranked Miami on MLK Day and they’ve got a boatload of talent starting with the possible top pick in the next NBA Draft in Marvin Bagley III (22.0 ppg, 11.7 RPG) and likely lottery pick point guard Trevon Duval. Duke leads the nation in scoring (92.7 ppg) and averages almost 20 points per game more than they allow (73.8 PPG).

Michigan State

• College Basketball Championship Odds: 13/2

Michigan State (16-3) has struggled a bit recently by dropping two of their last three games heading into the weekend, but the Spartans possess a boatload of talent and three likely NBA performers in forwards Miles Bridges (16.7 ppg) and Nick Ward (14.3 ppg) as well as blossoming center Jaren Jackson Jr. (11.5 ppg, 6.2 RPG). Michigan State also has one of the best head coaches in the game today in Tom Izzo and I believe the Spartans are going to be a lot better later in the season and difficult to dispatch once March Madness rolls around.

Villanova

• College Basketball Championship Odds: 7/1

I absolutely love top-tanked Villanova (17-1) and the way they play a ‘team’ style under head coach Jay Wright. The 2015 national champions are average a stellar 88.3 points per game (seventh) while limiting the opposition to almost 20 fewer points per game defensively (68.8 ppg).

Arizona

• College Basketball Championship Odds: 10/1

The Wildcats have a whopping five players that double figures in scoring and another player just off the mark at 9.9 points per game. They’ve got a gifted floor leader in Jalen Brunson and plenty of other talents in the backcourt. The Cats have wing players that can drive and shoot it from distance and they’ve got a five-star big man in Omari Spellman that is just scratching the surface of his potential. I know Arizona was a preseason favorite to win it all this season, but right now, there’s a reason they’re unranked and it’s because, despite their high level of roster talent, they’re wildly inconsistent and can apparently lose to anyone, like they did in falling to Colorado on Jan. 6 four games back. The good news is that the Wildcats don’t have the most difficult schedule playing the Pac-12. The bad news is that playing a bunch of pasties don’t build much fortitude for when they do play an elite opponent.

Middle-of-the-Pack Contenders

• Kansas: 14/1
• Wichita State: 14/1
• Florida: 20/1
• Kentucky: 20/1
• Oklahoma: 20/1
• Purdue: 20/1
• Virginia: 20/1
• West Virginia: 20/1
• Gonzaga: 25/1
• Texas Tech: 25/1
• Xavier: 25/1

The Jayhawks aren’t very deep and they’re just not going to get it done this season. Wichita State may be 15-3 like Kansas, but the Shockers are offering some real value as a 14/1 pick, seeing as how they can score the ball (84.6 ppg), defend (69.1 ppg) and play a team style of ball that makes all of their players dangerous. Florida (13-5) has five losses on the season, but for some reason, I think they’re still dangerous and could be difficult to get rid of once March Madness gets underway. Kentucky (14-4) is super talented and super young, but they could pull it all together before the tourney starts. Oklahoma (14-3) has the best player in college basketball in point guard Trae Young, the closest thing we’ve seen to Steph Curry, and for me, that makes the Sooners dangerous, even if they do have their share of shortcomings at other positions. Purdue is offering some of the best value of any 20/1 team on the board. The Boilermakers are formidable at both ends of the floor as they rank 20th nationally in scoring (84.6 ppg) and an even more impressive 11th in points allowed (62.1 ppg). Gonzaga (16-4) isn’t nearly as good as they were a year ago, but the Texas Tech Red Raiders are a team I believe you’ve got to keep an eye on this season as they’ve got a tremendous defense that ranks fifth in the nation in points allowed (61.2 ppg). The Xavier Musketeers (17-3) are another team that is offering some really good value as a 25/1 pick.

The Longshot

• Notre Dame: 50/1

I know Notre Dame (13-6) kind of looks like nothing really special right now, but I swear, that the Fighting Irish get better late in the season every under head coach Mike Brey and just become one of those teams that maximize their chances for success once March Madness rolls around. Notre Dame is solid offensively (77.7 ppg), but very good defensively 65.1 ppg, 31st) and that makes them a great longshot pick!