What Is the Average Score of the College Basketball National Championship Game?

The tiebreaker of just about every Men's College Basketball Tournament bracket pool is predicting the final score of the championship game.

This may seem like a total crapshoot as we have no idea, leading into the tournament, which two teams will square off in Indy on April 6. But with the use of a little historical data, we can make our best educated guess.

Let's dive in.

Average Score of College Basketball National Championship Game

There is an archetype for which type of teams make the championship game in the tournament.

Nearly every champion since the turn of the century has ranked inside the top-20 in the nation defensively, per KenPom. Over 80% of those teams have also had top-10 offenses. Because similar types of rosters consistently reach the final round each season, we can glean a decent amount of information based on historical scores from the Men's College Basketball championship game.

Below is a peek at the scores from the men's championship game in each of the past 10 seasons. Note that this coincides rather nicely with the shot clock rule change in college, which reduced the possession timer from 35 to 30 seconds. That rule was implemented in 2015, meaning 9 of the 10 championship games on this list were played with a shorter shot clock. Point totals are down a couple of points due to that rule change.

The average score in that sample is 75.4 to 66.2, which comes out to an average total of 141.6 points in the men's college basketball championship game.

We mentioned that point totals are down a tad in recent years due to the shortened shot clock and also the increased three-point length implemented in 2019. We have yet to see this reduction in points scored affect the championship game. In fact, we've seen the opposite. The average championship game point total over the past 20 years is 138.4, more than 3 points lower than the average from just the past 10 years.

Learn more about this year's March Madness sleepers and March Madness upset picks at FanDuel Research.

Which bets stand out to you across the nation tonight? Check out FanDuel Sportsbook's latest college basketball betting odds to see the full menu of options.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.