NCAA Tournament Odds and Predictions 2026: Houston Takes the Top Spot

• The Houston Cougars, national runners-up from last season, have moved to the outright favorite for the National Championship in the very early-season odds.

• Pre-season favorite Purdue has seen a slight lengthening of their odds and a drop to the second spot on some betting boards.

• The Kentucky Wildcats, who generated significant betting interest and had their odds slashed in the pre-season after an exhibition win over Purdue, remain a highly bet team and a top-tier contender.

The national championship for men’s college basketball is decided every year by a single-elimination tournament featuring the 68 best teams in the country during the regular season. On this page, we’ll keep you up to date with the odds for the top contenders, the best sportsbooks for betting on them, how to read those odds, and so much more!

NCAA Tournament Odds 2026

Here are the odds for the top 10 contenders listed at FanDuel Sportsbook. Sign up for a FanDuel account today and claim: Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins.

Rest of the teams listed at +2000 odds and higher.

NCAA Tournament Predictions

One of the great things about the current state of men’s college basketball is how unpredictable it is. More than likely, the NCAAW winner will come from inside the top 16 in the preseason poll. But the odds say it all for the men’s side.

• The betting favorite, Purdue, only has a 9.52% chance of winning the national championship.

• Several of the top contenders only have a better than 5% chance of winning.

• Another six clock in with a 4.76% chance (+2000 odds).

What does all of this mean? That between the transfer portal and NIL money, parity has come to men’s college basketball. Expectations will be higher for teams expected to be good, such as Purdue, Houston, Duke, and Kentucky.

But bettors may not want to overlook anyone. Florida’s preseason odds were +6000 last year. Of the last ten Tournament winners, only two had preseason odds shorter than +1000 (Baylor, +800 in 2020-21, and Duke, +900 in 2014-15).

NCAA Tournament Winner - My Pick

Purdue (+1200) at FanDuel Sportsbook

Purdue is a strong team due to their elite combination of returning talent, experience, and top-tier coaching under Matt Painter. The Boilermakers return their top proven scorers, including consensus All-American candidate Braden Smith (a star point guard) and Trey Kaufman-Renn (an elite frontcourt scorer), who have already been integral parts of two Big Ten titles and an NCAA title game appearance.

The addition of key transfers like Oscar Cluff bolsters their interior defense and rebounding, addressing a weakness from last season, while the entire core's deep tournament experience provides a rare level of continuity and championship-level maturity in modern college basketball.

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How to Bet on the NCAA Tournament Winner

Online sportsbooks will often have odds posted for the next NCAAM Tournament most of the year for fans to put money on. Placing a wager on your team is pretty easy to do:

You’ll need to open an account with a sportsbook, but I’d recommend opening a few to take advantage of the welcome promos and because, at this stage of the season, odds can vary significantly across books.

Once you’ve done that, find the book with the most advantageous odds for the team you want to bet on. Make sure you have money in your account. Click on the team, enter your desired wager on the betting slip, and place your bet.

How to Read NCAA Tournament Winner Odds

Futures odds will be expressed as a three-digit number with a + or – in front. If the odds have a minus number, that means you will need to risk whatever the odds are to win $100. So, if the odds are -1000, you’ll need to bet $1000 to win $100.

But if the odds have a + sign in front, the odds are what you’ll win if you bet $100. If the team has +1000 odds like Houston to start the season, you’ll win $1000 if you bet $100.

If a team has odds, it has a better than 50% chance of winning, and if it has + odds, it has a less than 50% chance of winning.

Where to Bet on the NCAA Tournament Winner

The following are my preferred online sportsbooks for betting on the NCAAM Tournament Winner:

• FanDuel Sportsbook: Not every sportsbook has both a mobile app and a desktop site, or if they do, they don’t function the same. FanDuel has both; what you can do on one, you can do on the other with ease. Navigating both is simple and easy to do, and when you are at a game, you’ll have no trouble using your FanDuel mobile app. Claim the FanDuel welcome bonus today: Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins.

• Caesars Sportsbook: I am really high on Caesars because of their current welcome promo: Bet $1, Double Your Winnings Next 20 Bets. I love betting on player props and occasionally live betting, but I tend to keep my wagers small so I can place more bets. Doubling my winnings will make it so much more fun. Use our promo code WSN20X to claim this offer.

• BetMGM Sportsbook: I’m a big fan of betting on parlays and same game parlays, and BetMGM’s builder is the best in the business. Sign up for a BetMGM account with our promo code WSNSPORTS and claim: Get Up to $1,500 in Bonus Bets*.
  
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NCAA Tournament Winner History

Florida won the school’s third national championship last season, but the all-time record belongs to UCLA with 11, followed by Kentucky with 8, North Carolina and UConn with 6, and Duke and Indiana with 5.

The following table contains a list of the last 15 NCAAM Championship winners: