March appears to be more tame this year.
The first weekend of the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament is in the books and the madness was few and far between as we knocked the field down from 68 to 16. It’s not all bad news, though.
While Cinderella opted to skip this year’s festivities, it opens the door for the cream to rise to the top. The Sweet 16 features some of the best teams in college basketball this season, with future NBA lottery picks and more on full display.
In a perfect world, each team comes into the round with a 6.25% chance of cutting down the nets.
However, the world is not perfect and the betting odds is how we’ll make up for that. There are the favorites like the Duke Blue Devils and Florida Gators. There are the long shots like the Arkansas Razorbacks and Ole Miss Rebels. Then there are the teams in between like the Tennessee Volunteers and Alabama Crimson Tide.
Each team’s price of admission comes with a varying prize, but only one team will climb the ladder to cut down the nets as the confetti falls.
With plenty of quality squads left, it makes for an exciting ride to the finish. Here’s a look at the betting odds, courtesy of BetMGM, for this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament national championship.
2025 March Madness power rankings by NCAA championship odds
BetMGM odds as of Monday, March 24
Dark horse teams
Arkansas (+10000)
Ole Miss (+8000)
Michigan (+6600)
BYU (+6600)
Purdue (+6600)
Kentucky (+5500)
Arizona (+4000)
Maryland (+3300)
The top contenders
Texas Tech (+2000)
Michigan State (+2000)
Alabama (+1800)
Tennessee (+1600)
Auburn (+525)
Houston (+500)
The favorites
Florida (+350)
Duke (+225)
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
