It's Auburn, it's Duke, and it's everyone else.
For the majority of the season, the Tigers and Blue Devils have been the top two teams in college basketball, even though Duke has dropped to third in the national rankings this week, with Alabama jumping to No. 2 behind top-ranked Auburn.
Will the last team standing be either the Dukies or the Tigers?
Check out the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Feb. 25.
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2024-24 Men's NCAA National Championship
Duke and Auburn vs. Field
Field: -210 (bet $10 to win $14.76 total)
Duke and Auburn: +160 (bet $10 to win $26 total)
Just last week, the two top dogs were at +130, while the field was at -170, meaning the field is separating itself, at least a little bit.
In terms of the Final Four, Auburn is at -135 to make it to the national semifinals, and Duke is at -120. Third is Houston at +150, fourth is Florida at +165, and then right on the outside is Alabama at +170.
Now, the national title odds.
Auburn has the shortest odds, at +360, followed by Duke at +370, Houston at +750 and Florida at +850.
In other words, the odds say Duke and Auburn are the favorites, by somewhat of a wide margin, to win this year's National Championship, after UConn won it the last two seasons.
Currently, Duke is -20000 to be a 1-seed, while Auburn's odds are off the board, meaning it is essentially a shoo-in. And in recent decades, being a top seed entering the tournament has translated to success.
UConn won it as a 1-seed last season and as a 4-seed in 2023. In 2022, Kansas won as a 1-seed, and in 2021, Baylor won as a 1-seed.
Virginia, Villanova, North Carolina and Duke won the tournament as 1-seeds in 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2015, respectively. Villanova won as a 2-seed in 2016.
Outside 2023 UConn and 2017 UConn (7-seed), the last time a seed lower than three won a national title was Arizona in 1997 as a 4-seed.
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