Sixty-eight teams enter.
And only one will be crowned champion.
The 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament gets underway with the First Four matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the first round of games on Thursday and Friday and the second round on Saturday and Sunday. By the end of the busy week of college basketball, the field will be whittled down to 16, and less than two weeks later will be the Final Four in New Orleans.
So which team will be hoisting the national championship trophy at Caesars Superdome come April 4?
Well, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed in Gonzaga enters as the betting favorites to win it all at +350, according to our partner, PointsBet. After coming up one game short of pulling off a perfect season last year -- being steamrolled by Baylor in the national championship game -- the Zags went 26-3 en route to their 10th straight West Coast Conference title and third straight conference tournament title.
RELATED: NCAA Tournament bracket: Seeding, schedule, how to watch
Mark Few’s group is led by junior forward Drew Timme and standout freshman center Chet Holmgren. The 7-foot Holmgren, who is averaging 14.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, projects to be one of the top picks in June’s NBA draft.
NCAAB
The No. 1-seeded Arizona Wildcats have the second-best national title odds at +600. Arizona swept the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships for the first time since 2017-18, finishing 31-3. Potential NBA lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin was second in the Pac-12 in scoring this season with 17.4 points per game.
Another No. 1 seed rounds out the top three as Kansas has +700 odds. The Jayhawks earned a share of the Big 12 regular-season title with Baylor before taking down Texas Tech in the conference tournament championship game. Guard Ochai Agbaji paced the Big 12 in scoring this season with 19.7 points per game, while shooting 47.7% from the field and 40.5% from 3.
After missing out on the Big Dance last season, No. 2-seeded Kentucky has the best odds to win it among non-No. 1 seeds at +800. Despite a disappointing semifinal exit in the SEC tournament, the Wildcats have put together a strong season at 26-7 overall. Big man Oscar Tshiebwe led the nation in rebounding with 15.1 per game, in addition to pacing Kentucky in points per game with 17.0.
There's a two-way tie for fifth-best odds between No. 1-seeded Baylor and No. 2-seeded Duke. Like Gonzaga, Duke has a very highly-touted NBA prospect in Paolo Banchero. Banchero and the Blue Devils, who are in the same region as Gonzaga, will be trying to help Mike Krzyzewski ride off into the sunset as a national champion. Meanwhile, the Bears, who are in the same region as Kentucky, are looking to become the first repeat champs since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
Potential No. 1 pick Jabari Smith and the SEC regular-season champion Auburn Tigers have the seventh-best odds at +1400. Auburn is a No. 2 seed and in the same region as Kansas.
Here’s a full look at the teams with shorter than +10000 odds to win the 2022 NCAA Tournament:
Gonzaga, +350
Arizona, +600
Kansas, +700
Kentucky, +800
Duke, +1200
Baylor, +1200
Auburn, +1400
Purdue, +1600
Villanova, +1800
Tennessee, +2000
Texas Tech, +2000
UCLA, +2000
Iowa, +2800
Houston, +3000
Illinois, +3000
Arkansas, +5000
Texas, +5500
UConn, +6000
Wisconsin, +6600
Alabama, +8000
Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.