College Basketball Final Four Odds: Conference Play Is Heating Up
On the closing days of January, college basketball is on the precipice of its most intense portion.
Soon enough, the conference tournaments will be here, and after, the illustrious March Madness. However, prior to any of that, we still have to crown regular-season winners. Be that as it may, weare all wondering -- which schools will make the upcoming Final Four just outside Phoenix?
At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Final Four betting odds are still wide open. Here is how they look prior to February. Keep in mind: most programs still have about a dozen regular season contests to play.
All college basketball odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
Purdue Boilermakers (+155)
In 2023-24, the Purdue Boilermakers are enjoying one of the most dominant campaigns in school history. As of January 30th, they've played to a 19-2 overall record, which includes 8-2 against fellow Big Ten competition.
The Boilermakers are thriving behind reigning-Wooden Award winner Zach Edey. Standing at 7-foot-4, Edey has been one of college basketball's most overwhelming centers in quite some time. 21 games into the current year, Edey is averaging 23.0 PPG with 11.4 boards (RPG). FanDuel Sportsbook currently has the Purdue senior labeled with -750 odds to win his second John. R Wooden Award.
Transparently, the group from West Lafayette, IN has not qualified for the NCAA Final Four dating back to 1980. With that, the Boilermakers have just two appearances all-time; their inaugural Final Four bid came a couple months prior to America's first moon landing (1969).
Pun intended, Purdue has been playing like a full-steam locomotive. In head coach Matt Painter's 19th season, the Boilermakers have shelled out a scoring clip of 84.9 PPG. Simply, they will lean on Edey and the offense to drive the train to Glendale, AZ for the Final Four.
UConn Huskies (+200)
Your reigning national champions, the Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team is on the cusp of winning 20 or more games for the third straight year. UConn currently sits atop the Big East at 18-2 overall (8-1 in conference).
If you like the Huskies to win March Madness in back-to-back years, they are currently priced with the second-shortest listing (nine-to-one odds) at FanDuel Sportsbook. Still, in terms of making the Final Four at State Farm Stadium, Connecticut shows more approachable odds of two-to-one.
Prior to 2022-23, the Huskies had not played in a Final Four in nearly a decade. Still, head coach Dan Hurley has this current group from Storrs in advantageous positioning. Additionally, they have not lost a contest since prior to Christmas. Through that span, UConn has showcased impressive wins over Georgetown, Creighton and twice Xavier.
At the moment, the Huskies have been geared behind a dynamic back-court pairing of seniors Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer. Newton is Connecticut's leading scorer with 15.8 PPG after he was third in that category on last season's national-title team. On the other hand, Spencer transferred to UConn from Rutgers for 2023-24.
Houston Cougars (+200)
Handling their first season of Big 12 play with supreme confidence, the Houston Cougars are undeniably one of the top men's basketball programs. In the current campaign, Houston has surged out to a 19-2 record. For conference games, the Cougs have navigated their way to a 6-2 record.
Only Iowa State and TCU have managed to defeat Houston this season. Mostly, the Cougars have mugged opponents with suffocating defense. In 2023-24, H-Town has allowed only 52.9 PPG, which is the stingiest rate in Division I.
At numberFire, the power rankings have Houston (21.03 nERD) as the No. 1 team in all the land. With head coach Kelvin Sampson at the helm, this group is attempting to reach its second Final Four in the past four years.
Like UConn, the Cougs are also powered behind an athletic back-court tandem of seniors. What L.J. Cryer and Jamal Shead lack in height (both 6-foot-1), they each make up for in IQ and skill.
North Carolina Tar Heels (+290)
The 2023-24 North Carolina Tar Heels are one of the most experienced groups in college hoops. With head coach Hubert Davis at the helm for his third season in Chapel Hill, he has several holdover starters from the last UNC team to play in the Final Four.
As national runner-ups in 2022, senior pick-and-roll duo R.J. Davis and Armando Bacot are current team's respective leaders. Davis has been especially impressive, producing 21.2 PPG (11th-highest in the country). Bacot has been fantastic in support, showing 10.0 RPG along with an average of 2.0 blocks each time out.
UNC has built a 17-3 record as of January 30th. More impressively, the Heels are a perfect 9-0 versus fellow ACC opponents to this point. When reflecting back on numberFire's college basketball power rankings, North Carolina (17.83 nERD) chimes in at No. 5 in the country.
With 21 previous tournament Final Four appearances, no institution has made more trips to the coveted round than UNC. There is a favorable chance the Tar Heels raise that record figure to 22 after this season; FanDuel Sportsbook has North Carolina priced at +290 odds to do exactly that.
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