2024 NCAA Tournament odds: Purdue is the favorite, but Duke, Kentucky, Kansas are best value picks

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In just under 13 weeks' time, there will be one team left standing in Phoenix as the national champion. Last season saw UConn dominate the field en route to its fifth national championship in program history and with conference play starting for all parties last week, the race is on to the Final Four.

Kansas opened up the 2023-24 season as the team with the best odds (11-1) of winning the 2024 NCAA Tournament and the Jayhawks were just ahead of Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke as the preseason betting favorite.

With the Big Dance just over two months away, No. 1 Purdue is now the consensus favorite (8-1) to take home the title. The Boilermakers were on the wrong side of quite possibly the greatest upset in NCAA Tournament history last season when they lost to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson but can flip the script and write a redemption story of their own by winning it all.

Here is a look at some of the best value picks and long shots to win the NCAA Tournament.

Top values

T-No. 11 Duke Blue Devils

Current odds: 25-1

Duke opened the season with the fourth-best odds of winning the title but now finds itself outside the top 10. The Blue Devils suffered consecutive losses early in the season to Arkansas and Georgia Tech that nearly dropped them out of the rankings entirely, but have responded by winning six straight games since that loss to the Yellow Jackets on Dec. 2. One of the biggest keys to the turnaround is Duke getting more production out of Jared McCain and Mark Mitchell. The Blue Devils have an experienced core of Mitchell, Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor that make them a very intriguing betting option.

No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks

Current odds: 17-1

The preseason favorite still has the fifth-best odds. It wouldn't be surprising if the Jayhawks move up the leaderboard as we get into the heart of Big 12 play because of the conference schedule that's in front of them. Kansas has played down to its competition at times this season, but still holds quality wins over Kentucky, UConn and Tennessee. Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson have been a nice one-two punch and getting more production out of star freshman Elmarko Jackson could make a drastic difference.

No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats

Current odds: 20-1

Kentucky hasn't made it out of the first weekend of March Madness since 2019, but there is strong reason to believe this is the year the Wildcats make a run back to the Final Four. The Wildcats haven't looked this fun to watch in years and a large reason why can be attributed to their stout freshmen class led by Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, D.J. Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw and Justin Edwards. Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell have both provided a veteran presence that makes Kentucky one of the favorites to win it all.

Long shots to consider

No. 22 Creighton Bluejays

Current odds: 30-1

Based on the odds, Creighton isn't considered as big of a longshot as Big East foe UConn was last season (60-1), but the Bluejays still have great betting value. Creighton was considered a serious Final Four contender coming into the season and losses to UNLV, Villanova and Marquette during the last month dropped it out of the Top 25 entirely before wins over Georgetown and Providence moved it back up. The Bluejays have three players (Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner) averaging 15+ points per game. That kind of veteran experience should help them make a deep run in the tournament.

Texas A&M Aggies

Current odds: 70-1

Now we are getting into the longshots of longshots. Texas A&M is currently at +7000 to win it all, but there is still hope it can make a run come tournament time. The Aggies haven't fared well against top competition this season and already have losses to FAU, Virginia, Memphis and Houston on their resume. To make matters even worse, Texas A&M lost its SEC opener by 15 points to LSU last weekend. Wade Taylor lV is still one of the best players in the county regardless of position and maybe he can carry this team to a title.

No. 25 Texas Longhorns

Current odds: 100-1

Let's stay in the state of Texas for the last longshot pick. Why not the Longhorns at +10000? It's surprising that Texas remained in the AP Top 25 after a double-digit loss to in-state rival Texas Tech in the Big 12 opener because its best victory this season is a neutral site win over LSU ... which isn't exactly inspiring based on the fact they're 0-2 against Top 25 teams. The reason why Texas could still make a run in the tournament is guard play still matters and Max Abmas and Tyrese Hunter give UT one of the better backcourts in the country. Based on talent alone, Texas should be higher on this list of odds.