The wait is almost over and the start of the 2022-23 college basketball season is nearly upon us. It always proves to be one of the craziest, most unpredictable sports in the world, and this season should prove no different. There's still time to make a couple of futures bets on who will be cutting down the nets at the end of March Madness. Let's break down the main contenders for the NCAA Tournament and my picks to win it all, including a longshot at 70/1!
2022-23 College Basketball NCAA Tournament contenders
At +850, Gonzaga and Houston are the co-favorites to cut down the nets and are the only teams with less than 10/1 odds to win the National Championship. Both teams made the Final Four in 2021, so they are no strangers to success in March. Both are inside the top seven of KenPom and BartTorvik's preseason rankings and are second (Gonzaga) and third (Houston) in the preseason AP Poll.
The only team ahead of Gonzaga and Houston in the AP Poll is North Carolina, which is third in line in the futures market. Last season’s runners-up sit at +1000 and are followed by a large group of teams at 20/1 or less. For the purposes of this article, I consider the true title contenders to be any team that is 20/1 or better to win it all.