Men’s college basketball national championship odds: Michigan is favored by how much?!

Both Michigan and UConn got off to hot starts in Saturday’s Final Four games. The Huskies had to endure a push from Illinois while the Wolverines ran away from Arizona. Considering Michigan’s dominant play, it’s no surprise the Wolverines are big favorites for Monday’s national championship game.

Michigan is favored by 7.5 points on DraftKings, BetMGM and FanDuel. The Wolverines opened as a 6.5-point favorite on FanDuel, but that number quickly moved so that all three sportsbooks showed matching odds.

Both UConn and Michigan were underdogs, albeit very small ones, in the final betting lines for the semifinals. Dan Hurley’s team gets to play up the disrespect card despite this being the Huskies’ third national title game appearance in the last four years.

If the line closes at 7.5, Michigan would be the biggest favorite in a title game since North Carolina was a 7.5-point favorite against Michigan State in 2009. The Tar Heels won that game by 17. UConn was a 7-point favorite against Purdue in the 2024 championship game and a 6.5-point favorite against San Diego State in the 2023 final, winning both.

The biggest recorded upsets in title game history, according to SportsOddsHistory.com, are UConn’s 1999 win against Duke and Villanova’s famous 1985 upset of Georgetown. Both UConn and Villanova were 9.5-point underdogs.

Michigan enters as the clear favorite thanks to its dominant play this NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines’ closest game was a 13-point win against Alabama in the Sweet 16. Even in that game, Michigan led by at least 10 points for the last seven minutes. Dusty May’s team led Arizona by as many as 30 points on Saturday and beat Tennessee by 33 in the Elite Eight.

Program history is strongly on UConn’s side, though. Not only did the Huskies win back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024, but UConn has won all six of its national championships since Michigan won its only title in 1989. The Wolverines are 1-6 in title games, including four straight losses in 1992, 1993, 2013 and 2018. Meanwhile, UConn is 6-0 in championship games.

As for this year’s matchup, Yaxel Lendeborg, the betting favorite to win the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, suffered an ankle injury in the 18-point win over Arizona. Lendeborg initially left the game, but did later return. It’s hard to imagine he won’t play on Monday, considering he came back on Saturday, but his health will be worth monitoring early in Monday’s game.

The point total is listed at 145.5 on FanDuel and BetMGM and 144.5 on DraftKings. Michigan has gone way above that total in all of its NCAA Tournament games, while UConn has been around or below that range in its last four games.