Duke and Florida Open as Co-Favorites for 2026 NCAA Title

Duke and Florida start the 2026-27 college basketball season as the two most likely teams to win the national championship according to BetMGM odds. Both programs open the season at +600 for the title, making them the co-favorites on the futures board.

The season officially begins this Sunday in Rome, Italy, where Notre Dame will play Villanova. The rest of the schedule kicks off the following day, with games starting as early as 3 a.m. and running until midnight.

The top four teams in the AP preseason poll hold the best odds to claim the trophy in April. No. 2 Duke and No. 1 Florida sit at +600. No. 4 Connecticut is listed at 11/1, while No. 3 Illinois follows at 12/1.

Michigan State and Texas complete the top five on the odds board, both priced at 18/1. Louisville and Arizona follow at 20/1 each. Houston and Tennessee round out the top ten, both listed at 25/1.

Connecticut enters the season with recent success under head coach Dan Hurley. The Huskies have reached the NCAA final in three of the last four years, winning or finishing as runners-up in those appearances. They went 3-0 in preseason exhibition games, defeating Michigan State and Purdue.

The team lost sharpshooter Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed but retained key contributors Braylon Mullins and Silas Demary Jr. The roster also includes Duke transfer Nikolas Khamenia and former Seton Hall center Na’jai Hines. UConn is positioned to compete with St. John's for the top spot in the Big East.

Kansas, priced at 30/1 on BetMGM, looks to rebuild after the departure of Darryn Peterson. Head coach Bill Self added top prospects Tyran Stokes and Taylen Kinney. Stokes is the consensus favorite to be selected first overall in next year's NBA Draft.

The Jayhawks return Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. while adding Trey Kaufman-Renn, Leroy Blyden Jr., and Keanu Dawes through the transfer portal. This mix of veterans and new recruits gives Kansas a realistic chance to advance past the second weekend of the tournament.

Vanderbilt offers the longest odds among the top contenders listed at 45/1 on FanDuel. The Commodores started 16-0 last season and finished with a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Head coach Mark Byington retained point guard Tyler Tanner and added 7-footer Bangot Dak and Ace Glass via the portal.

Five-star recruit Gabe Nesmith also joins the Vanderbilt roster. Despite finishing fourth in the preseason SEC rankings, Vanderbilt opened at No. 13 in KenPom's preseason rankings.