Teams That Can Go All the Way in March Madness 2026

Top sportsbooks have released their odds for next year’s college basketball national champion. 

It is strongly recommended that you write down the odds as they currently are so that you can track how different changes, as they take place when, for example, transfers happen, influence the odds.

By tracking the shifts in odds, you can locate value when you feel that those shifts don’t properly account for changes.

For example, if you feel like a given team were to win big in the transfer window and its odds barely change, then you might perceive betting value in that team.

There are a lot of changes that can take place from now until April 2026. However, it is almost never too early to place futures wagers at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review). 

It is generally only too early to bet on the favorite because of how much can shift in favor of other teams as personnel developments reshape rosters.

With that being said, let’s look at who the most heavily favored teams are. I will spend time explaining why, philosophical considerations about betting favorites aside, the favorite is not worth investing in. For your best bets, I will recommend Houston, Purdue, and BYU for your consideration.

I will not recommend any firm bets at this moment. However, if certain key players return for those three teams, then each one would be worthy of an investment. So, I will tell you what to watch for going forward.

Stay Away From Duke

Duke is heavily favored because it is going to get some fantastic young talent to help make up for its losses.

Cooper Flagg is expected to be the top pick in the NBA Draft, so one must presume him to leave. 

If he were to pass up on a huge NBA contract and return to Duke, then we can have a different conversation.

But for now, I don’t foresee things getting better for the Blue Devils.

Yes, they will have a loaded team featuring the Boozer twins, who were five-star prospects.

However, it will be a team reliant primarily on its youth.

We just saw Houston rely on its maturity to get to the national championship while Duke blew a double-digit lead and lost because it played like a young and inexperienced team down the stretch.

The question is who will win the national championship and not who will have the most talented team.

Talent is important, but even the Duke team with Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Cam Reddish didn’t even make it to the final game. They almost suffered an early-exit loss against UCF! Those were freshmen who, like Duke’s most recent group, showed that inexperience can be costly in March Madness.

If Duke were priced at something like +3000, then I would say that, given its level of talent, there is some significant betting value.

But, favoring the Blue Devils makes them completely unattractive to me.

Let’s stay away from them. 

Louisville’s Odds Make No Sense To Me

I am not getting the Louisville hype.

Yes, the Cardinals are bringing in some valuable transfers for what will be an impressive transfer class.

But they are also losing a lot. Their top three scorers will graduate. Their fourth- and fifth-leading scorers might likewise decide not to return.

I don’t see them having the talent level for a deep run.

Houston Cougars

Houston could go far next March. The well-coached Cougars will have an elite defense again.

Question marks on offense keep them from being worth an investment at this moment.

In particular, key point guard Milos Uzan might not return.

That being said, three top-20 players in the ESPN top 100 and valued returnees Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tugler are expected to form the starting lineup.

So, the talent level will be there plus the experience after Sharp, Tugler, and company suffered a bitter loss in the national championship and now get to return.

Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue is another team worth keeping an eye on.

Braden Smith, a first-team All-American, is expected to return, as is fellow guard Fletcher Loyer. 

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue’s reliable scorer in the interior, is also expected to come back.

This is a Purdue team that lost by all of two points to the eventual runner-up Houston in the Sweet 16.

With key pieces coming back, the Boilermakers can make a deeper run.

With the addition of a physical and efficient inside scorer in 6’11 center Oscar Cluff and with returning wing CJ Cox continuing to develop, Purdue will have what it takes to win it all.

BYU Cougars 

BYU’s basketball program took a huge step forward last year as it earned a six seed and made it to the Sweet 16.

The Cougars could be even more talented next year with the arrival of number-one overall recruit AJ Dybantsa. Xavion Staton will add much needed defense — he is regarded as the top rim protector of this incoming recruiting class.

If their top two scorers, Richie Saunders and Egor Demin, were to join starting center Keba Keita in returning, then they would be worth investing in as a team that should be expected to take another big step forward.

Takeaway

North Carolina won the 2017 national championship after being the runner-up in 2016, so it’s certainly possible that Houston could do the same. But I would want Uzan to return before betting on the Cougars to do so.

Official announcements need to be made regarding the return of Smith, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn before wagering on Purdue.

We also need to hear back about BYU’s two leading scorers.

That being said, all three of those teams would be great wagers if the stated conditions are met. So, be sure to see if those players are returning and to wager accordingly.

*The line and/or odds in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.