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The 2023 NCAA Tournament was the first time that a No. 1, 2, and 3 seed failed to make the Final Four.
The highest combination of seeds in a Final Four happened in 2011 when the seeds totaled 26.
UConn has won three of the past 12 NCAA Tournaments and is a favorite to make the Final Four again.
Which type of Final Four will we get in the 2024 NCAA Tournament? Will it be complete and utter chaos like in 2011, when the four teams had seeds totaling a record-high 26? Or will it be like 2008, when all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four?
Below, we analyze several teams and their respective odds of making a Final Four this season. Check it out!
To make the Final Four, a team must win four straight games (or five if it is in a “First Four” game) in the NCAA Tournament. The table below lists the top 15 odds favorites and their respective odds to make the March Madness Final Four, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Click the odds in the table below to place your bets at DraftKings and claim $150 in bonus bets!
Team | Odds |
---|---|
UConn Huskies | +100 BET HERE |
Houston Cougars | +130 BET HERE |
Purdue Boilermakers | +170 BET HERE |
Tennessee Volunteers | +240 BET HERE |
Arizona Wildcats | +280 BET HERE |
North Carolina Tar Heels | +400 BET HERE |
Kentucky Wildcats | +450 BET HERE |
Marquette Golden Eagles | +500 BET HERE |
Iowa State Cyclones | +500 BET HERE |
Auburn Tigers | +500 BET HERE |
Duke Blue Devils | +550 BET HERE |
Creighton Bluejays | +550 BET HERE |
Baylor Bears | +650 BET HERE |
Illinois Fighting Illini | +700 BET HERE |
Kansas Jayhawks | +800 BET HERE |
In the section below, we cover our March Madness Final Four predictions, which include the teams listed below.
The Tennessee Volunteers will likely lock up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament even after losing the last game of the 2023-24 regular season to the now-No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats. Of course, this is contingent on them picking up one or two wins in the SEC Tournament this week.
Tennessee’s body of work this season is impressive despite its slow start in some respects. The Vols have a 7-6 record in Quad 1 games and a 6-1 record in Quad 2 games; however, they have won five of their past seven Quad 1 games, establishing their dominance. They are getting hot at the right time.
Tennessee brought back several veteran players from last season’s squad that made the Sweet 16 even though they were missing their starting point guard, Zakai Zeigler. Zeigler tore his ACL at the end of the regular season, all but dashing the Vols’ chances of being a title-contending team, but they have the personnel, talent, discipline, experience, and coaching to make a deep run this year.
Tennessee has had the tricky task of balancing its core of returning players and incoming transfers to ensure cohesion. Needless to say, the Vols did a terrific job in that area. Zeigler, Jonas Aidoo, Santiago Vescovi, and Josiah-Jordan James were the four key returners for them, while Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey transferred in through the portal.
Knecht has taken this team from a solid SEC squad to a true title-contending force of nature; he averages more than 21 points per game on roughly 47% shooting from the field and 41% from behind the arc. The second half of Knecht’s campaign has been even more awe-inspiring, though. In fact, he has posted just shy of 27 points per game on a true shooting percentage greater than 60%!
With Knecht providing the Vols with arguably the best and most efficient scoring in the nation alongside the team’s already elite defense (third in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom), there is more than a good chance of this team stringing together four consecutive wins in the NCAA Tournament.
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The talent on this team is simply ridiculous, especially after sending off three of their best players (Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, and Andre Jackson Jr.) to the 2023 NBA Draft. Two of those players, Hawkins and Jackson Jr., were selected in the first round!
UConn still returned three elite talents from its championship squad last season, including Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, and Alex Karaban. Clingan is an elite 7-foot-2 center, capable of dominating on both ends of the floor; he will likely be selected in the lottery of the 2024 NBA Draft. Newton is a triple-double threat on any given night, averaging roughly 15 points, seven rebounds, and six assists per game.
Newton, the 6-foot-5 guard, is arguably just as talented of a rebounder as Clingan and his frontcourt partner, Alex Karaban. However, Karaban’s uber-efficient scoring more than makes up for losing out on rebounds to his shorter teammate. In fact, Karaban has a 50/40/90 shooting split, which is exceedingly rare in college basketball, where spacing is not as consistent as it is in the pros.
Head coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies also signed five-star freshman guard Stephon Castle, who will also be a lottery selection and could even be drafted as high as the top five, depending on where certain teams end up picking. They didn’t stop there, pulling in sharpshooter Cam Spencer through the transfer portal.
Spencer has been another perfect fit alongside the returning players; he has been the second-leading scorer for UConn on eye-popping averages. His 49% shooting from the floor, 45% from deep, and 90% from the charity stripe rival the country’s best perimeter players.
UConn ranks second in adjusted efficiency margin behind only the Houston Cougars. The Huskies also have the fourth-highest total rebounding rate and pair that with the 13th-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation. This team has substantial championship DNA, and even if they don’t win it all for the second consecutive season, they are a phenomenal bet to make another Final Four.
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We didn’t need any more convincing of the viability of a North Carolina Final Four bet after the Tar Heels’ road win against rival Duke in the always-scary Cameron Indoor Stadium. UNC didn’t look rattled one bit, holding a nine-point halftime lead on its way to a clean sweep of the Blue Devils this season.
The amazing part of that game was that it wasn’t Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis, or Harrison Ingram who had a monstrous performance; it was Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan who went nuclear in a 31-point outing. Ryan knocked down eight of his 12 field goal attempts, including a 6-for-8 effort from downtown. He also added nine points at the charity stripe, getting to the line early and often for UNC.
Duke forced Carolina’s secondary scorers to put up numbers, and they did just that. Davis and Bacot only posted nine points apiece; they both failed to score double-digits, which is a rarity. But the fact that the Tar Heels got 31 from Ryan and 14 from Ingram to supplement the offense only builds more confidence for us in this team.
North Carolina’s aptitude on the defensive end (fifth in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom) and rebounding ability (17th in total rebounding rate, fourth in DREB%) make it a “hard out” in the NCAA Tournament, but the duo of Davis and Bacot make the Heels a legitimate Final Four candidate.
Those two players are used to playing in games of this magnitude, as they were on the Tar Heels’ runner-up team two seasons ago. Don’t expect this team to be on upset alert any time soon.
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At some point in the Final Four, the Vols might get overpowered by an opponent with similarly disciplined and intense defense, better rebounding, and more scoring options. Further, despite his seemingly superhuman output, we have seen stars run out of energy at the tail end of an NCAA Tournament run before. However, the likelihood of this Vols team getting knocked off before the Final Four seems thin; they have slaughtered inferior opponents all season long.
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The 2023 Final Four included the No. 9 seeded Florida Atlantic Owls, the No. 5 seeded Miami Hurricanes, the No. 4 seeded UConn Huskies, and the No. 5 seeded San Diego State Aztecs. The Aztecs prevailed in a narrow, one-point game against Florida Atlantic to make the championship game, while the Huskies controlled Miami from tip-off to the final horn. Then, the Huskies drubbed the Aztecs in the championship game, giving UConn its fifth national championship.
The first year of the NCAA Tournament was in 1939, and it featured eight teams; however, it was not until the 1960s that the phrase “Final Four” was first used in reference to the tournament. The term became even more popularized in 1975 when Ed Chay, a Cleveland sports writer, used it in an article.
The phrase “March Madness” was first used in conjunction with basketball by an assistant executive secretary (Henry V. Porter) for the IHSA (Illinois High School Association.) Interestingly enough, he used this phrase to describe basketball in the month of March in 1939, which just so happened to be the first year of the NCAA Tournament.
Check out the past 15 years of March Madness Final Four teams, beginning with the most recent seasons:
Final Four Teams | Year |
---|---|
UConn Huskies, San Diego State Aztecs, Miami Hurricanes, and Florida Atlantic Owls | 2023 |
Kansas Jayhawks, Villanova Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels | 2022 |
Baylor Bears, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Houston Cougars, UCLA Bruins | 2021 |
Virginia Cavaliers, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Auburn Tigers, Michigan State Spartans | 2019 |
Villanova Wildcats, Michigan Wolverines, Kansas Jayhawks, Loyola-Chicago Ramblers | 2018 |
North Carolina Tar Heels, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Oregon Ducks, South Carolina Gamecocks | 2017 |
Villanova Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels, Oklahoma Sooners, Syracuse Orange | 2016 |
Duke Blue Devils, Wisconsin Badgers, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans | 2015 |
UConn Huskies, Kentucky Wildcats, Florida Gators, Wisconsin Badgers | 2014 |
Louisville Cardinals, Michigan Wolverines, Syracuse Orange, Wichita State Shockers | 2013 |
Kentucky Wildcats, Kansas Jayhawks, Louisville Cardinals, Ohio State Buckeyes | 2012 |
UConn Huskies, Butler Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, VCU Rams | 2011 |
Duke Blue Devils, Butler Bulldogs, Michigan State Spartans, West Virginia Mountaineers | 2010 |
North Carolina Tar Heels, Michigan State Spartans, UConn Huskies, Villanova Wildcats | 2009 |
Kansas Jayhawks, Memphis Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels, UCLA Bruins | 2008 |
With so many sportsbooks available, choosing which one to use can be overwhelming, especially if you are new to online sports betting. However, this section can hopefully make the process a little clearer.
Several factors can go into choosing a sportsbook, including the user interface, app navigability, betting odds, betting types, payment options, and the sports offered. Bettors who are more experienced (and bet more frequently) often have numerous online sportsbooks, so they can always find the best odds and promotions to get a betting edge.
Some of the most popular sportsbooks are BetMGM, Caesars, and FanDuel; the table below should simplify the process for you, detailing pertinent information for each online sportsbook! Let's have a look.
BetMGM | Caesars | FanDuel | |
---|---|---|---|
March Madness Final Four Winner Odds | Odds Not Available | Odds Not Available | Odds Not Available |
Welcome Bonus | Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets! | Up to a $1,000 First Bet on Caesars | Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets |
Payment Options | - ACH Payments Bank Transfer - Visa - Mastercard - American Express - Discover credit card - PayPal - Neteller - Skrill | - ACH/ Instant Check- Credit Cards (Visa and Mastercard) - Debit Cards - Online Bank Transfer - PayPal - Caesars Prepaid Play+ Card - Skrill | - ACH Payments Bank Transfer - Mastercard - Visa - FanDuel Prepaid Card - Online Transfer - Wire Transfer - PayPal |
Withdrawal Time | Instant | Up to 72 hours | Instant |
Bet on March Madness Final Four Here | BET HERE | BET HERE | BET HERE |
If you are a new bettor and reading betting odds overwhelms you, do not worry. We will break it down as simply as possible for you ahead of March Madness, one of the biggest sporting events in the world!
If there is a minus sign (-) in front of a team’s Final Four odds, then they are a favorite, meaning their implied probability is greater than 50%. For example, if the Houston Cougars have Final Four odds of -115, then you would have to bet $115 to win $100.
Conversely, if a team is an underdog, then they will have a plus sign (+) in front of their Final Four odds. If the Creighton Bluejays are +450 to make the Final Four, then a bettor would have to bet $100 to win $450.
AUTHOR
Andrew Norton
134 Articles
Andrew has always been an avid sports fan and followed his hoop dreams all the way to college. He’s well-versed in everything betting with multiple years of experience and is qualitatively and quantitatively knowledgeable in sports statistics and analytics.
More info on Andrew Norton
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