We’re in the middle of another tumultuous season of men’s college basketball, and multiple Top 5 teams suffered crushing upsets in January.
The UConn Huskies, the defending March Madness champion, did not get recognized as the top-ranked team in the nation until mid-January. UConn became the fourth team to secure the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll this season. The Kansas Jayhawks, Arizona Wildcats, and Purdue Boilermakers each held the No. 1 ranking at some point this season, but were unable to retain the top spot.
The Michigan State Spartans and Marquette Golden Eagles earned Top 5 rankings in the preseason, and both were among the betting favorites to win the championship in 2024. However, neither squad lived up to preseason hype and expectations.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs has been a perennial title contender, but they recently tumbled out of the Top 25 for the first time in eight seasons.
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Kansas, Arizona, Purdue Fail to Stay No. 1
Kansas began the season as the consensus favorite to win the championship at +1000 odds according to BetMGM.
The Jayhawks, led by center Hunter Dickinson (19.3 ppg, 11.7 rebounds), held the top spot in the AP Top 25 rankings through the first three weeks of the season. They sustained their first loss of the season against Marquette, who was No. 4 at the time. Kansas has since been upset by Central Florida Knights. Kansas is holding steading at No. 3, and currently +1600 odds to win the championship.
Arizona (13-4) rocketed into the No. 1 ranking after an 8-0 start and a big win against the Duke Blue Devils, who were ranked second at the time. The Wildcats veered off course in recent weeks. They’re 5-4 in their last nine games and slipped to No. 12 overall after losses against unranked Pac-12 foes Stanford Cardinal and Washington State Cougars. Arizona began the season at +2000 odds to win the championship, and their futures slipped to +10000.
Purdue (16-2) spent five weeks ranked No. 1, including four consecutive weeks, before UConn overtook them last week.
Center Zach Edey, a future NBA lottery pick, leads Purdue with 22.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Edey could’ve gone pro last season, but he returned to Purdue for a chance to lead the Boilermakers to a championship.
Winning on the road is a difficult feat in the Big Ten, and both of Purdue’s losses were against conference opponents including Northwestern Wildcats and Nebraska Cornhuskers. Purdue, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, are now the betting favorite to win the championship at +800 odds.
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UConn Seeks Another Title
UConn (16-2) attempts to become the first repeat champion since Florida pulled off consecutive titles in 2006 and 2007.
Head coach Dan Hurley lost multiple starters from last year’s championship team. Sharpshooter Jordan Hawkins was a lottery pick by the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Milwaukee Bucks selected guard Andre Jackson, Jr. in the second round. Although center Adama Sanogo went undrafted, the Chicago Bulls signed him.
UConn’s current squad has multiple playmakers, and you never know who will lead the team in scoring on any given night. UConn’s backcourt is anchored by seniors Cam Spencer (15.5 ppg) and Triston Newton (14.9 ppg). Sophomore forward Alex Karban (15.3 ppg) is UConn’s best free-throw shooter and he’s shooting over 40% from 3-point range.
Both of UConn’s losses were away from home this season. Kansas (ranked No. 5 at the time) edged out UConn by four points in early December. They lost a stinker against the Seton Hall Pirates just before Christmas, but have not lost a game since then.
UConn began the season with a #8 ranking, and were initially +1600 odds to repeat as champions. You can now back top-ranked UConn to win another championship at +1100 odds.
Huge Setbacks for Michigan State and Marquette
Michigan State was the No. 4 team in the AP Top 25 preseason rankings, and Marquette began the season at No. 5. Gonzaga just missed the top ten with a No. 11 preseason ranking. Through 11 weeks of the season, Michigan State (10-7) and Gonzaga (11-5) fell out of the Top 25. Meanwhile, Marquette (11-5) slipped to No. 17.
Marquette looked like a legit title contender when they picked off Kansas (ranked No. 1 at the time) with a 14-point victory at the Maui Invitational in November. Marquette lost to Purdue (ranked No. 2 at the time) in the championship game in Maui by three points. The Golden Eagles went 7-4 since their trip to Hawaii with losses against unranked Wisconsin, Providence, Seton Hall, and Butler.
Marquette saw their championship futures at BetMGM decline from +1800 odds in the preseason, to +2500 odds right now.
Michigan State began the season with a three-point upset loss against James Madison. That set the tone for a disastrous campaign by Tom Izzo’s squad. Four of their seven losses were against ranked teams including Duke, Arizona, Illinois, and Wisconsin. They also looked horrible in recent back-to-back losses against unranked Nebraska and Northwestern.
The Spartans were a popular pick to win March Madness in the preseason at +1500 odds. Now their odds have since dipped to +5000.
Gonzaga Tumbles Out of the Top 25
Gonzaga lost a game early in the season against Purdue (ranked No. 2 at the time), but the Bulldogs started out 7-1 and looked like they were on pace for another 30-win season.
Gonzaga’s season went off the rails after a heartbreaking loss against Washington in Seattle in December. They dropped five out of their last nine games, and plummeted out of the Top 25 for the first time since the start of the 2015-16 season.
The Bulldogs suffered a 13-point loss against UConn (ranked No. 5 at the time) in mid-December, but also recently lost to unranked San Diego State and Santa Clara in West Coast Conference action.
Gonzaga saw their championship futures drop to +6000 odds. They were +2200 odds in the preseason.
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