Best odds to win the 2019 NCAA basketball tournament

For the second time in three seasons, the Villanova Wildcats were the last team to cut down the nets and close college basketball's curtain as NCAA champions. As is the case with top programs across the country, retaining enough elite talent to make a run at the 2019 Final Four in Minneapolis is a daunting challenge. However, after the UMBC Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to knock out a No. 1 seed last spring, it's fair to say that if you punch a ticket to the dance, you have a chance.

Here are the top 25 programs with the best odds to win the 2018-19 college basketball National Championship.

How to Read Futures Odds: If a team is +1,000, a $100 wager would win $1,000 if that team won the national title. If a team is -200, a $200 wager is needed to win $100 if that team won the national title.

These days, it's pretty rare for college basketball stars to play all four years, but Clemson's Marcquise Reed's and Shelton Mitchell's decisions to return for a final act provides the Tigers a great opportunity to build upon their Sweet 16 trip a season ago. Reed and Mitchell accounted for 28 points per game, while fellow senior Elijah Thomas should average double-digit points and rebounds this season.

After winning 31 games a season ago, head coach Mick Cronin lost his three best players and now is challenged with replacing 37 points and 19 rebounds per game of production. Junior Jarron Cumberland is the only returning starter who averaged better than 20 minutes per game last season. The Bearcats have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the past eight seasons.

Most casual basketball fans would be surprised to learn that for a brief moment last season, Arizona State ranked third in all of college basketball. Bob Hurley's crew eventually advanced to the NCAA Tournament but was knocked out by Syracuse in Dayton's First Four matchup. The Sun Devils haven't earned an NCAA Tournament invite in back-to-back years since the early 1980s. After losing three players, who combined for nearly 50 points per game, sophomore Romello White — and his 10.5 points and seven rebounds per game — will need to expand his influence on the court.

Sean Miller's best player of a season ago is considered the NBA's next great big man. This is why DeAndre Ayton — he of the 20 points and 12 rebounds per game — was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft earlier this summer. What remains from last year's tournament team are several rotation players who all averaged fewer than 15 minutes per game. Miller is rebuilding and yet, due to a weak Pac-12, could still contend for a conference crown.

Chris Beard's second year as Texas Tech's head coach was the most successful in school history if you define success as the Red Raiders reaching the Elite Eight for the first time. However, not all that glitters is gold, and some of those beloved talents move on to greener pastures. The Red Raiders lost their top two scorers from a season ago as Zhaire Smith was drafted by the Phoenix Suns (traded to 76ers) and Keenan Evans graduated. Sophomore Jarrett Culver, who considered making an early jump to the pros, returns and will look to build upon his 11 points and five rebounds per game.

The Shockers are well known for keeping talent around all four years. They are truly the antithesis to college basketball's one-and-done culture. Call it great recruiting mixed with a splash of bad timing, but Gregg Marshall's 2018-19 squad will feature only two seniors. His top four scorers of a season ago graduated, with Landry Shamet now earning quality minutes with the Philadelphia 76ers. Preseason polls have them ranked in the middle of the American Athletic Conference. 

With Purdue losing four starters — all seniors — on offense, Matt Painter is lucky to have his leading scorer of a season ago back for another year. Junior Carsen Edwards averaged 18.5 points per game and shot 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. He'll be the main reason why the Boilermakers even sniff the NCAA Tournament this season.

Mike White's Gators qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed but only managed a first-round win over St. Bonaventure before losing to Texas Tech two days later. Gone is the school's all-time leader in assists and leading rebounder, but leading scorer, Jalen Hudson, has returned to play his senior season. Florida lost seven SEC games last season and still punched a ticket. It would take a lot of mistakes for the Gators to miss 2019's big dance.

Entering his 12th season with the Mountaineers, Bob Huggins is nervous about a new-look roster and uber-challenging schedule. However, their well-respected full-court press features something most teams don't: the "Sensei of Swat," Sagaba Konate. The 6-foot-8 junior from Mali averaged 3.4 blocks per game last season. The Mountaineers frontcourt is loaded, which should take some pressure off their young backcourt.

Head coach Steve Alford now boasts a top-five recruiting class three years running. How that translates into wins, losses and the Bruins' tournament hopes is to be determined. The underachieving program hasn't found its footing with Alford at the helm and lost leading scorer Aaron Holiday to the NBA. Unfortunately, Shaquille O'Neal's son Shareef won't play his freshman season due to a heart condition. So sophomore Kris Wilkes will have to lead a roster that doesn't feature one senior on it.

For as much as the Hoosier State is synonymous with basketball, many would be surprised to learn Indiana has missed two consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Head coach Archie Miller looks to rectify that in 2018-19 and recruited a top-10 class to help achieve the goal. Senior Juwan Morgan led the Hoosiers in nearly every statistical category but will need to improve on his accuracy at the charity stripe after shooting only 63.1 percent last year.

For being known as a football school, Bruce Pearl carved out part of his Auburn legacy by leading the basketball Tigers to their first SEC title in nearly 20 years. However, the thrill of the big dance was short-lived after Clemson hammered them by 30 points in the second round. If they do get back, it'll be without leading scorer Mustapha Heron, who transferred to St. John's after last season.

Coach Jim Boeheim thinks at least 15 years have passed since his program last returned all five starters from the previous year. The Orange averaged 66.6 points per game last season, which ranked 311th out of 351 D-I teams. However, anybody who has followed Syracuse knows that its 2-3 zone defense is what wins ball games. While the Orange ranked ninth in points allowed for the season, the zone held the final three opponents to just 58 points per game. With five starters returning, we should expect a similar strategy in 2018-19.

Virginia earned a lot of headlines for its suffocating defense. However, the Wolverines ranked sixth in points allowed per game last season at 63.3 PAPG and was a big reason why they advanced all the way to the 2018 title game before Villanova ran them off the court. Coach John Beilein now needs to find a way to replace 37 points of production, as he lost Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson and Moritz Wagner. Red-shirt junior Charles Matthews will need to improve on his 13 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to lift the Wolverines back into the national champion contender conversation.

Remember former NBA center Manute Bol? His son Bol Bol is one of three freshmen the Ducks will feature as part of a top-five recruiting class. Payton Pritchard led the team with 14.5 points per game last season and returns for his junior season. With such a young squad, head coach Dana Altman will experience some growing pains, but as the best team in the Pac-12, the Ducks should punch their ticket to NCAA Tournament once again.

With Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. selected as NBA lottery picks, Tom Izzo has to find a way to replace top-10 talent. Nick Ward returns for his junior season after posting 12 points and seven rebounds per game a season ago. While the Spartans may not possess enough juice to reach the Final Four this time around, I wouldn't want to face Izzo come March.

With Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. selected as NBA lottery picks, Tom Izzo has to find a way to replace top-10 talent. Nick Ward returns for his junior season after posting 12 points and seven rebounds per game a season ago. While the Spartans may not possess enough juice to reach the Final Four this time around, I wouldn't want to face Izzo come March.

The whole "defense wins championships" mantra blew up in Virginia's face last spring. Not only did No. 16 UMBC knock the top-seeded Cavaliers out of the tournament, but the Retrievers also scored 74 points against a defense that had allowed 54 points per game all season. Was it a one-game anomaly? Perhaps. This season, small forward and NBA prospect De'Andre Hunter and guard Kyle Guy look to spark a much-needed offensive fire to help the Cavs' chances come March.

After reaching the NCAA Championship game in 2016 and 2017, the Tar Heels were knocked out in 2018's second round by Texas A&M. UNC will be led by the ACC's Most Improved Player of a season ago, senior Luke Maye. The senior sharp-shooter averaged 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game and at 6-foot-8, he connected on 43.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

Jay Wright lost his top four leading scorers to the pros, which included Mikal Bridges and double-double machine, Omari Spellman. However, two players who averaged more than 27 minutes per game last season, Eric Paschall and Phil Booth, return. The cupboard may be thin, but Wright has proved the last five years that he squeezes the most talent out of his guys.

For years, Gonzaga was the happy-go-lucky NCAA Tournament Cinderella story. A decade and change later, head coach Mark Few has built the Bulldogs into a perennial power. Gonzaga reached the Sweet 16 once again in 2018 and return two key juniors for another postseason run. Post players Rui Hachimura and Killian Tillie combined to play in all but one game and both posted double-digit points per game.

Udoka Azubuike is Kansas' centerpiece, literally. The 7-foot, 280-pound big man is going to be a load for his opponents and provides Bill Self some size in the paint that his most recent rosters were missing. Plus, the Jayhawks also added Memphis transfer Dedric Lawson, who some pundits believe is the team's best player. When you think back to all the great Kansas players over the years, that's some high praise and why the team is +850 to win it all.

After they upset Cincinnati in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the Nevada Wolf Pack looked poised to make a deep postseason run, until Loyola-Chicago knocked them out the following game. With several key players deciding to return, Eric Musselman's roster is loaded and features eight seniors. The veteran leadership and experience is why the Wolf Pack are among the favorites to win it all this season.

Kentucky basketball doesn't rebuild; it reloads. Even after posting an ugly 10-8 conference record last season, coach John Calipari's Wildcats reached the Sweet 16. Unlike past rosters, this year's Kentucky squad won't have to rely solely on a handful of green-faced true freshmen. They possess roster depth and added grad transfer Reid Travis, who averaged 19.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for Stanford last season.

Mike Krzyzewski did it again. After losing his starting five from a season ago, the Blue Devils head coach won the recruiting wars and compiled the top freshman class heading into the 2018-19 season. The new-look roster is led by probable one-and-done big man Zion Williamson and scorer R.J. Barrett. If they stay healthy, Duke will make another trip to the Final Four. So, it's fitting that this team boasts the best odds to cut down the nets in Minneapolis.