Duke Blue Devils favored to ruin UConn's 3-peat dreams
11/03/2024 06:27 PM
The UConn Huskies have a chance to make history next April, with the first three-peat since the 1970s looming. But even Huskies coach Dan Hurley knows that UConn’s path to a third straight National Title will be treacherous. His team is inexperienced and has legitimate question marks, and the rest of the nation has loaded up. Whether it be teams that bring back experience and high profile transfers, or programs like the Duke Blue Devils, who have a highly-touted freshman class, glory will be hard to come by.
This development has created a landscape where there seems to be no clear cut National Championship favorite. At various times throughout the summer, UConn, Kansas and Houston have all had the best odds according to sportsbooks. But with the season just two days away, there is a new odds-on favorite.
Duke has overtaken UConn as the preseason favorite to win the National Title, despite the fact that the Blue Devils freshman heavy roster, led by projected #1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Cooper Flagg, didn’t receive nearly as much love from voters of the AP Top 25 preseason poll.
This is just one example of how the current betting odds on FanDuel don’t reflect what the AP voters felt going into the season. Below are the top 10 teams in the country, listed in order from 1 to 10. But note that their National Championship odds, which will be to the right of each team, won’t necessarily always match up.
- Kansas (+1200)
- Alabama (+1100)
- UConn (+1100)
- Houston (+1200)
- Iowa State (+1700)
- Gonzaga (+1700)
- Duke (+950)
- Baylor (+3000)
- North Carolina (+2500)
- Arizona (+2000)
Beyond the top ten, you have Auburn (ranked 11th in the preseason poll) with better championship odds (+2000) than both Baylor and North Carolina. You have a team like St. John’s, who surprisingly was unranked, with champions odds (+4000) better than ranked programs like Indiana, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Marquette, Cincinnati, Ole Miss, UCLA and Florida.
The race to San Antonio and the National Championship Game will begin on Monday, and at least in theory, that means 352 teams have championship hopes and dreams. By mid-March, that number will be dwindled down to 68. March may be five months away, but the Madness soon begins.
The post Duke Blue Devils favored to ruin UConn’s 3-peat dreams appeared first on ClutchPoints.
