College basketball expert picks: Kentucky, Creighton among top values bets to win 2024 NCAA Tourname

No. 1 UConn finally finally looked fallible for the first time in two months Tuesday, dropping an 85-66 decision at No. 15 Creighton. It ended the Huskies' nation-best winning streak at 14 games and added a little spice to the national title conversation.

UConn is looking to be the first repeat national title winner since Florida in 2006 and 2007, and the Huskies were emerging as a runaway favorite after they dismantled Marquette 81-53 in a top-five battle on Saturday. While UConn remains the favorite at 5-1 despite Tuesday's loss, the odds sheet is a bit more tightly compacted now.

Purdue and Houston aren't far off the pace with odds of better than 10-1. In total, there are 16 teams with 45-1 odds or better to be the last squad standing when a champion is crowned on April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. But some teams with legitimate Final Four hopes can even be found outside that group.

With under a month remaining until Selection Sunday, our experts are taking a stab at the following question: "which college basketball national championship bet provides the best bang for your buck?" We're talking longer odds here, not the obvious candidates. Here's our answers followed by the latest odds to win the 20024 NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky (30-1)

I'm still not completely sold on the idea that No. 17 Kentucky has solved its defensive issues to the point where the Wildcats can reasonably expect to have a realistic chance to cuts nets in April -- but there's no denying that the past week has been encouraging. UK was excellent defensively in a win over Ole Miss, then excellent defensively for the second straight outing in that massive victory at Auburn. If it's real -- and, again, I'm not sure that it is, but if it's real -- then getting John Calipari's program at +3000 could be a bargain because the Wildcats are clearly college basketball's most talented team. 

Nobody has more future NBA Draft picks. Nobody has a higher ceiling. It's just a matter of figuring it out. Has UK figured it out? Will UK figure it out? To both questions, I'd say, I'm not sure. But I'm such a sucker for high-end talent that a part of me will probably always view the Wildcats as capable contenders even though they've been shakier for much of this season in ways that actual contenders often aren't. -- Gary Parrish

BYU (45-1)

If we're talking good value on championship long shots, I'll take a team that's a) old, b) played together for the most part of the past 2.5 seasons, c) been a metrics darling since November, and d) infatuated with 3-pointers and making them at a healthy rate. BYU: check, check, check, check. The Cougars are coming off a Tuesday night come-from-behind home win over Baylor (78-71), improving to 19-7 as a first-year member of the best conference in college hoops. BYU takes 50.5% of its shots from beyond the arc, which is the third-highest 3-point rate in college hoops. It's making 35.6%, which is good but far from elite this season. 

Fortunately, Mark Pope's team has a fun combination of shoot-happy guards and a formidable front line that is a good rebounding crew. BYU is a top-10 team in 2-point accuracy (58.3%), which helps make up for all the misses from long range. They'd need a hot streak to make it happen, but at least we know they're willing to put up 30-plus treys every night. -- Matt Norlander

Saint Mary's (65-1)

Oh baby! This was an easy exercise for me. I've been pounding the table for the Gaels to be an NCAA Tournament threat all season -- even despite an 8-6 start to the season -- because of the defensive scheme run by Randy Bennett and the rare continuity of the roster. So I'll gladly sign off on a scoop of Saint Mary's at +6500 here. This team owns the longest winning streak in college hoops following UConn's loss to Creighton and has separated itself from the pack in the WCC much the same way Gonzaga has in recent history. 

CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm has the Gaels as a projected No. 8 seed right now largely because a slow start to its season and its lack of impressive wins on the résumé owing in part to WCC competition, and the season-ending injury to starting forward Joshua Jefferson is undeniably a big blow, but the tier of teams you can get in this range is in several classes below Saint Mary's. It's still a long shot but getting +6500 odds on a team that might not lose in conference play and could enter the NCAA with close to 30 wins seems like one heckuva bargain. Time to put some respect on the name of the Gaels! -- Kyle Boone

Florida (75-1)

Obviously, it's a long shot. But at these odds, No. 24 Florida is absolutely worth a buck or two. Entering Wednesday night's game at No. 13 Alabama, the Gators had won seven of their past eight. Over that stretch, they ranked No. 8 nationally in barttorvik's power rating. So, basically, you can get a team that's spent the past month at a top-10 level for ridiculously good odds.

It took a while for the Gators to gel under second-year coach Todd Golden, but they have all the pieces to make a deep run. Veteran guards Walter Clayton and Zyon Pullin lead the charge, and a deep frontcourt makes UF one of the nation's best rebounding and shot-blocking teams. If talented wings Will Richard and Riley Kugel are knocking down 3-pointers, there is nothing this team is really missing except maybe a bit of nastiness with its perimeter defense. 

Florida is peaking at the right time and quietly turning itself into a dark-horse to make a March run. The Gators are likely to take a loss against the Crimson Tide on Wednesday, so the prudent move would be to wait until Thursday to get this team at an even better number. -- David Cobb

Creighton (30-1)

Creighton just delivered one of the more impressive performances of the season in a win over No. 1 UConn. The Bluejays have the talent and veteran experience to make a deep run come March. Creighton was moments away from reaching the Final Four last spring and this could be the season it finally gets over the hump.

Star big man Ryan Kalkbrenner is on pace to be an All-American. The last time a national champion featured an All-American center? Duke's Jahlil Okafor in 2015. Kalkbrenner could be the next player to join that prestigious list.

Kalkbrenner, Baylor Scheierman, and Trey Alexander are a dynamic trio. All three players are averaging at least 17 points per game. Add in the play of Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth and you have a team that can be a matchup nightmare for an opponent on any given night. The ceiling of this team is tremendous value at +3000.  -- Cameron Salerno

Odds to win 2024 NCAA Tournament

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