Coming off a trip to the Elite Eight in last year’s March Madness tournament, the Purdue Boilermakers (+800 at BetMGM) are the favorites to win the 2025-26 men’s national championship at sportsbooks.
Purdue is ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason poll for the first time and returns preseason Wooden Award favorite Braden Smith (+450), along with Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer. The Boilermakers’ previous high preseason ranking was No. 2 in the AP poll in 1987-88 under legendary head coach Gene Keady.
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Purdue has the most wageres (12.9%) and total dollars wagered (16%) of any college basketball team to win the title at BetMGM.
The Houston Cougars (+900) are the second favorite and only other team with single-digit odds. Kelvin Sampson’s team made the title game last season, losing 65-63 to Florida, and currently has the second-most wagers (9%) and total dollars wagered (13.5%) of any team.
Kentucky (13-1), Duke (13-1), UConn (14-1), Florida (14-1), Michigan (16-1), St. John’s (16-1), Arizona (17-1) and Texas Tech (18-1) have the next-best odds and represent the full group of teams with odds better than 20-1 to win it all.
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The NCAA announced last week it will implement player availability reports for the 2026 Division I men’s and women’s basketball championships. According to the release, teams must “submit initial reports to the NCAA the night before competition and again two hours before game time to ensure accuracy.”
The San Diego State Aztecs (60-1) are currently the largest liability at BetMGM to win the title.
Purdue opens the season Tuesday night as a 35.5-point home favorite against Evansville.