March Madness Predictions… In January?

✍️ Written by :

Sarah Ryan

🗓 Updated :

Aug 8th 2023

Even though we’re just over two months into the 2022-23 NCAA basketball season, the league’s playoff picture is beginning to progressively become clearer. It’s a wide, wide, very wide playing field competing to win it all - almost too overwhelmingly, inordinately wide for us to break down each team.

The NCAAB Men’s Division alone has roughly 358 teams to date! So each new college basketball season brings a wide, wide playing field of competitors before things narrow down to the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and eventually, one outright national champion.

It can be intimidating and overwhelming to parse out the most hotly-favored picks in such a wide playing field, but with March looming only two months out over the horizon, we can already tell that the oddsmakers in FanDuel Sportsbook are picking a few clear, decisive favorites in their NCABB futures markets.

Long-term outcomes that are months out are trickier to predict than outcomes in the shorter term, but if you’re one who’s up for the challenge, you can try your hand at predicting them. Oftentimes, you can try your luck with juicier odds payouts than the ones you’d get with other single (non-parlayed) bets in markets like point total O/Us, point spreads, or the moneyline on which team would win outright.

For now, we’ll be looking at specific futures markets on the most likely NCAAB teams favored to win the national college basketball championships outright, in both the men’s and women’s divisions. We'll also be previewing the futures markets for the Final Four frontrunners. Even if wagering on the outright championship winner is too daunting for you, you could alternatively consider betting on FanDuel’s conference outright markets, including categories like:

ACC - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
Atlantic 10 Conference - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
Big 12 Conference - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
Big East Conference - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
Conference USA - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
Missouri Valley Conference - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
Mountain West Conference - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
SEC - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23
West Coast Conference - Regular Season Winner - 2022-23

But let’s just check out the lines on the championship outrights for now. With March Madness being just around the corner and only two months away, let’s take a look at FanDuel’s frontrunners for their outright championship future markets, for the men’s championship, the women’s championship, and the teams to make the Final Four!

NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship 2023 Market

Most college students across the country are still enjoying the peace and quiet of the winter break, but FanDuel’s NCAA men’s and women’s March Madness markets are still alive and kicking. While most students may be resting up for another busy semester of note-taking, exam-cramming, and all-nighters, college basketball action is already very much underway.

Right now, out of the extremely vast playing field competing on the long road to March Madness, only two NCAA men’s basketball teams are favored below the price range of +1000 odds to win the championship: Houston (currently priced at +600 odds), and then Kansas (currently priced at +750 odds in the championship market).

Houston is strongly favored in this market for extremely good reason, as they’ve lead with a strong 16-1 overall record this season. Kansas is leading the Big 12 with a 14-1 overall win record, so even from their second place status in FanDuel’s markets, they still might be the better value pick. Both will net you a decent return with just a single $10 stake if either of the two frontrunner teams goes on to win the national title.

Interesting underdogs to consider in this market include Iowa State (currently 3rd place in the Big 12, priced at +6500 odds), UCLA (priced at +1400 odds, leader of the PAC 12 conference, and Charleston (priced at +30000 odds, but currently leading the Colonial Athletic conference 16-1 overall). We’d only recommend staking a few bucks on the long shot odds though. A lot has changed over the first two months of the college basketball season, and a lot can still change over the last.

March Madness Women’s 2023 Odds

At the moment, there are currently only three teams priced below the +1000 odds range, three and three alone. The top three NCAAB teams currently favored to win the women’s college basketball national championship are:

The South Carolina Gamecocks, priced at +125 odds
The Stanford Cardinals, priced at +350 odds
The Connecticut Huskies, priced at +750 odds

South Carolina is on a roll right now, currently on an undefeated 16-0 run at the moment. They’re only second place to LSU presently in the Southeastern women’s conference, with both teams tied for 16-0. Stanford isn’t terribly far behind either of those teams, currently standing 16-1 overall atop the women’s Pac-12 conference.

Connecticut is currently ranked first in the Women’s Big East conference, going for a strong 13-2 run. If LSU is able to maintain their first-place spot in the Southeastern Conference, they might be priced in a good underdog spot right now at +1200 odds. But a lot can change in three months, and a lot of teams need to throw their hats in the ring before we can get down to the Elite Eight and the Final Four.

March Madness Elite 8 2023

In NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division 1 basketball, the Elite Eight are the last eight teams to make it to the regional finals and national quarterfinals. While FanDuel doesn’t have any markets open for this field, just yet, you can still make early predictions on the Final Four field for 2023: any one of the last four teams to make it to the final playoff round!

March Madness Final Four 2023 Odds

There’s still a big, big, big playing field of teams that could potentially make it to this year’s Final Four field. A big, big, big pool of competitors and candidates to reach the Final Four, including those in FanDuel’s futures market:

To Reach Final Four - 2023

Houston, +115
Kansas, +150
Connecticut, +300
UCLA, +300
Tennessee, +300
Purdue, +250
Arizona, +280
Alabama, +330
Virginia, +550
TCU, +800
Baylor, +850
Gonzaga, +550
Texas, +550
Kentucky, +1000
North Carolina, +1000
Arkansas, +800
Duke, +1000
Creighton, +1300
Saint Marys CA, +1500
San Diego State, +2000
Ohio State, +1500
Memphis, +2500
Xavier, +1300
Iowa State, +1500
Rutgers, +1500
Marquette, +1500
Miami Florida, +1700
Illinois, +1500
Michigan State, +1500
Kansas State, +1500
Maryland, +2000
Indiana, +2000
West Virginia, +2500
Auburn, +2500
Missouri, +2500
Wisconsin, +3000
Virginia Tech, +3000
Oklahoma, +3500
Dayton, +4000
Providence, +4000
Mississippi State, +4000
Oklahoma State, +4500
Iowa, +3500
Texas Tech, +3500
UAB, +5000
Clemson, +4500
Villanova, +4500
USC, +4500
LSU, +5000
NC State, +5000
Utah State, +5000
Pittsburgh, +5000
Oregon, +5000
Florida, +4500
Penn State, +5000
Michigan, +5000
Utah, +5000
UNLV, +10000
Drake, +7500
Boise State, +10000
Wyoming, +10000
Wake Forest, +7500
Texas A&M, +10000
Arizona State, +7500
Georgia Tech, +10000
Georgia, +10000
South Dakota St, +10000
Stanford, +10000
Wichita State, +10000
Cincinnati, +10000
Fresno State, +10000
BYU, +10000
Nebraska, +10000
Boston College, +10000
Notre Dame, +10000
Nevada, +10000
Belmont, +10000
Northwestern, +10000
Tulane, +10000
Colorado, +10000
Central Florida, +10000
San Francisco, +10000
DePaul, +10000
Vermont, +10000
Seton Hall, +10000
Liberty, +10000
Saint Louis, +10000
Colorado State, +10000
Bryant, +10000
North Texas, +10000
Ole Miss, +10000
Butler, +10000
Oral Roberts, +10000
Va Commonwealth, +10000
Washington State, +10000
Florida State, +10000
Richmond, +10000
SMU, +10000
Davidson, +10000
Washington, +10000
Temple, +10000

Phew. A lot of teams here, but you may want to pay special attention to the top four Final Four candidates in this market. Right away, it might stand out to you that the top two teams in this market are also the top two teams in the men’s March Madness outright championship winner market.

They are priced as less marginal underdogs here, and so is UCLA, priced at +300 odds here. Connecticut is currently tied at that pricing, but ranked above UCLA for their better overall record. Granted, their performances aren’t that different from one another: the former team went 15-2 overall so far, while the latter went 14-2.

Beyond those top four teams, there are at least nine more teams priced below the +1000 odds range. It might be hard to narrow down 1-4 preferred final four picks in this market, but the good news is that you can parlay up to four picks in this market, and have the stake of those parlays insured with bet credit refunds via FanDuel’s no sweat promos!

FanDuel March Madness Promo

FanDuel Sportsbook often offers “No Sweat” promotions to new and existing customers to use for eligible events. You can read our review to learn more about them ahead of March Madness season, and follow our signup link to claim their welcome bonus.

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