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College hoops futures: No. 1 Kansas popular preseason title favorite
Amy Kontras-USA TODAY Sports

College hoops futures: No. 1 Kansas popular preseason title favorite

Originally posted on Field Level Media  |  Last updated 10/16/23

The Kansas Jayhawks are not a consensus favorite among oddsmakers but three weeks from the start of the season, coach Bill Self's team is a popular choice by the public to claim its second national title in three years.

The Jayhawks were revealed as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason college basketball poll released Monday. They are also the +1000 title favorites at BetRivers and BetMGM, followed by Duke (+1200, +1300) and Purdue (+1400 at both).

However, Duke is the +1100 favorite at DraftKings, followed by Purdue and Kansas at +1200.

Defending champion Connecticut is among the top 10 favorites at all three books: +1500 at BetRivers, +1600 at DraftKings and +2000 at BetMGM.

However, the heaviest action has clearly sided with Kansas at BetMGM. The book reported Monday that the Jayhawks have moved to +1000 since opening at +1600 while leading all schools with 14.6 percent of the total bets placed on the 2024 NCAA Tournament champion and 16.3 percent of the money.

That makes the Jayhawks the book's second biggest liability behind only Arizona. The Wildcats opened at +1600 and are currently +2000 while being backed by 12.9 percent of the title money despite drawing only 2.6 percent of the total bets.

The third biggest liability is Michigan State. Coach Tom Izzo's team opened at +2500, but those odds have shortened significantly to +1600 with the Spartans second at the book with 13.4 percent of the title bets and third with 13.2 percent of the money backing them. MSU is also +1600 at BetRivers, with slightly shorter title odds of +1500 at DraftKings.

Kansas is coming off a 28-8 season that saw Self miss the NCAA Tournament due to a heart operation. The Jayhawks lost in the second round, which brought the end of Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson's career at KU.

However, Self has restocked the roster with four four-star recruits along with former Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson. They join returning starters Kevin McCullar Jr., DaJuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams.


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This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.

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