2021 NCAA Men’s Tournament Championship Odds Tracker
Updated October 8, 2020
- Track the average odds to win the 2021 NCAA Men’s Tournament for all major D1 basketball programs.
- Villanova has the best odds, currently, but the top five are tightly packed.
- View teams individually or alongside others trending in the same direction.
The 353 schools that start the year with National Championship aspirations will have extra time to prepare for the 2021 NCAA Tournament, with the outbreak of COVID-19 leading to the cancelation of the 2020 Tournament.
In the graphs below, we have gathered the odds for every power-conference team and the top mid majors from multiple sports-betting sites and calculated their average odds at regular intervals over the course of the season.
2021 NCAAM Favorites
- Oct. 8: Thanks to the return of Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, Illinois has improved from +4875 to +1067 over the last several weeks.
- Sep. 19: The season is set to start on Nov. 25, and Villanova (+750) remains the favorite, while Luka Garza’s Iowa Hawkeyes are second (+825).
- July 17: Villanova has completed its rise to the peak of the odds. At +925, Nova is now slightly ahead of former favorite Gonzaga (+950).
- May 10: After opening at +2800, Villanova has been bet down all the way to +1000, second-best in the nation.
- Apr. 17: NBA draft declarations have shifted the landscape, e.g. Kansas dropped from +1000 to +1350 after Devon Dotson announced he’s leaving.
- Mar. 19: Despite the impending loss of Cassius Winston, Michigan State (+1000) moved into the top-five favorites after early money has come in.
- Mar 13, 2020: In wake of the cancelation of this year’s tournament, Gonzaga and Virginia have opened as co-favorites at +900 to win a National Championship next season
2021 NCAA Tournament Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Villanova | +817 |
| Iowa | +883 |
| Gonzaga | +917 |
| Baylor | +933 |
| Illinois | +1067 |
| Virginia | +1067 |
| Kentucky | +1333 |
| Kansas | +1367 |
| Duke | +1467 |
| Wisconsin | +1533 |
Odds updated Oct. 8, 2020.
The early rounds of March Madness are known for wild upsets, but when it comes down to brass tacks, the favorites tend to come out on top, a fact exemplified by the following trends:
- Eleven of the last twelve champions have been repeat winners.
- Virginia broke a run of 11 straight in 2019 by winning its first National Championship.
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Odds
- UNC has won the most national championships among ACC teams (6 titles).
- Duke (5 titles), Louisville (3 titles if you count 2013), and NC State (2 titles) are the only other ACC teams with more than one championship.
- Nine of the current ACC teams have never won a championship.
| ACC Team | National Championships | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| UNC | 6 | 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017 |
| Duke | 5 | 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015 |
| Louisville | 3 | 1980, 1986, 2013 |
| NC State | 2 | 1974, 1983 |
| Syracuse | 1 | 2003 |
| Virginia | 1 | 2019 |
| Boston College | 0 | N/A |
| Clemson | 0 | N/A |
| Florida State | 0 | N/A |
| Georgia Tech | 0 | N/A |
| Miami | 0 | N/A |
| Notre Dame | 0 | N/A |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | N/A |
| Virginia Tech | 0 | N/A |
| Wake Forest | 0 | N/A |
Big 12 Conference Odds
- Kansas (2008) remains the only Big 12 team to have won a title since the conference was formed in 1994.
- Kansas also has the most all-time titles (3) among current Big 12 teams.
- Oklahoma State (2 titles) is the only other modern Big 12 team that’s won a national championship.
- Only one Big 12 school has never reached the Final Four: TCU.
| Big 12 Team | National Championships | Year(s) | Final Fours (Most Recent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 3 | 1952, 1988, 2008 | 14 (2018) |
| Oklahoma State | 2 | 1945, 1946 | 6 (2004) |
| Oklahoma | 0 | N/A | 5 (2016) |
| Kansas State | 0 | N/A | 4 (1964) |
| Texas | 0 | N/A | 3 (2003) |
| Baylor | 0 | N/A | 2 (1950) |
| West Virginia | 0 | N/A | 2 (2010) |
| Iowa State | 0 | N/A | 1 (1944) |
| Texas Tech | 0 | N/A | 1 (2019) |
| TCU | 0 | N/A | N/A |
Big East Conference Odds
- Three teams in the modern Big East have won a national championship: Villanova (3), Georgetown (1), and Marquette (1).
- Three others have made at least one title game: Butler (2), St. John’s (1), and Seton Hall (1).
- Two Big East teams have never reached the Final Four: Creighton and Xavier.
| Big East Team | National Championships | Best NCAA Tournament Finish (Year) |
|---|---|---|
| Villanova | 3 | Champion (1985, 2016, 2018) |
| Georgetown | 1 | Champion (1984) |
| Marquette | 1 | Champion (1977) |
| Butler | 0 | Runner-up (2010, 2011) |
| Seton Hall | 0 | Runner-up (1989) |
| St. John’s | 0 | Runner-up (1952) |
| DePaul | 0 | Final Four (1943, 1979) |
| Providence | 0 | Final Four (1973, 1987) |
| Creighton | 0 | Elite Eight (1941) |
| Xavier | 0 | Elite Eight (2004, 2008, 2017) |
Big Ten Conference Odds
- Indiana (5 titles) and Michigan State (2) are the only Big Ten teams to have claimed more than one national championship.
- Four other Big Ten teams have won one national title: Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.
- But no Big Ten team has won the title since 2002 (Maryland).
- Despite making the tournament seven times, Nebraska has never even won a game in the NCAA tournament.
| Big Ten Team | National Championships | Best NCAA Tournament Finish (Year) |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 5 | Champion (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987) |
| Michigan State | 2 | Champion (1979, 2000) |
| Maryland | 1 | Champion (2002) |
| Michigan | 1 | Champion (1989) |
| Ohio State | 1 | Champion (1960) |
| Wisconsin | 1 | Champion (1941) |
| Illinois | 0 | Runner-up (2005) |
| Iowa | 0 | Runner-up (1956) |
| Purdue | 0 | Runner-up (1969) |
| Minnesota | 0 | Final Four (1997) |
| Penn State | 0 | Final Four (1954) |
| Rutgers | 0 | Final Four (1976) |
| Northwestern | 0 | Round of 32 (2017) |
| Nebraska | 0 | Round of 64 (0-7 all-time tournament record) |
Pacific-12 Conference (PAC-12) Odds
- Once upon a time, UCLA was the dominant force in college basketball, and their 11 national championships are three more than the next closest team (Kentucky, 8).
- But the mighty Bruins have not won the NCAA tournament in nearly 25 years, dating back to 1995.
- The drought for the Pac-12, as a whole, dates back almost as far, stretching to Lute Olson’s 1997 Arizona squad. The conference hasn’t even had a finalist since UCLA in 2006.
- UCLA remains the only Pac-12 school to have won multiple national titles.
| PAC-12 Team | National Championships | Best NCAA Tournament Finish (Year) |
|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 11 | Champion (1964, 1965, 1967-73, 1975, 1995) |
| Arizona | 1 | Champion (1997) |
| California | 1 | Champion (1959) |
| Oregon | 1 | Champion (1939) |
| Stanford | 1 | Champion (1942) |
| Utah | 1 | Champion (1944) |
| Washington State | 0 | Runner-up (1941) |
| Colorado | 0 | Final Four (1942, 1955) |
| Oregon State | 0 | Final Four (1949, 1963) |
| USC | 0 | Final Four (1940, 1954) |
| Washington | 0 | Final Four (1953) |
| Arizona State | 0 | Elite Eight (1961, 1963, 1975) |
Southeast Conference (SEC) Odds
- Kentucky has the second-most national championships all-time with eight, but only one since the turn of the century (2012), despite regularly bringing in the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation, including every year from 2008-2013, per 247Sports.com.
- Only three of the 14 current SEC schools have won a national championship. None of the others have even made the title game.
- Ole Miss and Texas A&M have the worst March Madness track record, never advancing past the Sweet 16.
| SEC Team | National Championships | Best NCAA Tournament Finish (Year) |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 8 | Champion (1948-49, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012) |
| Florida | 2 | Champion (2006-07) |
| Arkansas | 1 | Champion (1994) |
| Auburn | 0 | Final Four (2019) |
| Georgia | 0 | Final Four (1983) |
| LSU | 0 | Final Four (1953, 1981, 1986, 2006) |
| Mississippi State | 0 | Final Four (1996) |
| South Carolina | 0 | Final Four (2017) |
| Alabama | 0 | Elite Eight (2004) |
| Missouri | 0 | Elite Eight (1944, 1976, 1994, 2002, 2009) |
| Tennessee | 0 | Elite Eight (2010) |
| Vanderbilt | 0 | Elite Eight (1965) |
| Ole Miss | 0 | Sweet 16 (2001) |
| Texas A&M | 0 | Sweet 16 (1951, 1969, 1980, 2007, 2016, 2018) |
Top Mid-Majors Odds
