The Final Four is Saturday with No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Connecticut and No. 11 VCU vs. No. 8 Butler. It’s the first Final Four without a No. 1 or 2 seed since 1979. Only two of the 5.9 million people that filled out brackets at ESPN.com predicted those teams to make it, so it’s been quite an NCAA Tournament for oddsmakers.
With two mid-majors, one Big East team on the rise and the best of the SEC, this will be a Final Four to remember. Kentucky is the outright favorite for the NCAA National Championship based on pedigree. The Wildcats have won seven national titles, the latest being 1998. Second in the odds is Connecticut. The Huskies have won two NCAA Tournament titles, the last one coming in 2004. It’s safe to say that whichever team comes out of that matchup on top will be the overwhelming favorite to win the national title.
Two teams from mid-major conferences round out the Final Four. Butler is third in the outright betting based on its Cinderella run last year. The Bulldogs reached the national championship game and narrowly lost to Duke. They are the only team from last year’s Final Four that made it to this year’s. Butler has never won the NCAA Tournament, just like VCU, which is last in the betting. This is the first Final Four for the Rams but don’t count them out just because they had 5,000 to 1 odds at the beginning of the tournament. They are the hottest team in college basketball right now with five wins over a variety of major conference teams. Whichever teams moves on from this matchup will have a tough test against Kentucky or Connecticut.
NCAA National Championship Outright Odds (provided by Eurobet)
Kentucky: 11/8
Connecticut: 21/10
Butler: 7/2
VCU: 6/1