2023 NCAA Tournament Champion odds: Houston the betting favorite, Creighton & Texas among sleepers

Even though it’s July, the college basketball world keeps revolving. After a blue-blood-filled Final Four that saw Kansas claim its first National Championship since 2008 and a Hubert Davis-led North Carolina squad take down Coach K in the National semifinals, the 2023 National Title odds have been posted on multiple sportsbooks for several months.

Can Kansas (+1200) win the 2023 National Title despite losing Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun to the NBA, or will we see a new champion emerge?

If you’re interested in getting involved in the NCAA Tournament Champion futures markets, Sporting News has you covered. Below, we’ll break down the odds-on favorite and a couple of sleepers and long shots who could win the 2023 National Championship.

2023 NCAA Tournament Champion Odds

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

2023 NCAA Tournament Champion Odds: Favorite

Houston Cougars +1000 (implied probability 9.09 percent)

It’s crazy to see a non-blue blood atop the early season National Title odds board, but Kelvin Sampson’s hard-nosed, physical bunch is worthy of being the betting favorites in 2022-23.

Despite losing two of their top guards to season-ending injuries last year (Marcus Sasser, Tramon Mark), it took a historically lousy shooting output for the Cougars to miss out on their second-straight Final Four appearance.

Jamal Shead: grabs the rebound ➡️ finds the shooter

Houston is firing on all cylinders early 🔥 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/xN95rFy6bt

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 25, 2022

With the Cougars retaining a good deal of production from their Elite Eight core and adding coveted five-star forward Jarace Walker, expect Houston to breeze through the American en route to a high seed, putting it in great position to claim its first National Championship in school history.

2023 NCAA Tournament Champion Odds: Sleepers

Creighton Bluejays +2500 (implied probability 3.85 percent)

After a come-from-behind victory over San Diego State in the Round of 64, a shorthanded Bluejays team gave eventual National Champion Kansas all they could handle in the Round of 32. Their competitiveness with top-seeded Kansas makes you wonder if they would have knocked them out with a healthy Ryan Nembhard (right wrist) running the point and Ryan Kalkbreenner (left knee) defending the paint.

WITH ARTHORITY@___kingart | #GoJayspic.twitter.com/XiCC3Rc5s1

— Creighton Men’s Basketball (@BluejayMBB) March 19, 2022

With both Nembhard and Kalkbrenner returning in 2022, the sky’s the limit for Greg McDermott and company with Creighton’s young core having a year of postseason experience under its belt.

Factor in the additions of Baylor Schierman (South Dakota State) and Francisco Farabello (TCU) from the transfer portal, and the Bluejays are a legit National Title contender at +2500.

Texas Longhorns +4000 (implied probability 2.44 percent)

Last year’s version of Texas basketball may have underperformed, but it wasn’t realistic to expect things to go so smoothly in Chris Beard’s first year in Austin.

With go-to guys Timmy Allen (12.1 ppg) and Marcus Carr (11.4 ppg) back for another season, plus the additions of McDonald’s All-American Dillon Mitchell, and ex-Iowa State guard Tyrese Hunter, the 2022-23 Longhorns will be a much more stable entity.

Despite posting the 26th-most efficient offense per KenPom, Beard’s vaunted no-middle defense traveled well, as Texas allowed just 91.6 points per 100 possessions (14th in D-1).

Texas has a chance to secure a high seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, giving it a fair shake to win its first National Title.

More NCAA Tournament Champion sleepers to consider: Indiana (+4000); Florida (+6000)

2023 NCAA Tournament Champion Odds: Long shots

TCU Horned Frogs +7000 (implied probability 1.41 percent)

TCU took top-seeded Arizona to the limit in the Round of 32, falling 85-80 in overtime thanks to a legendary performance from Benedict Mathurin (30 points).

Arguably the biggest shot of the tournamentpic.twitter.com/UHPCwWhc5N

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 22, 2022

Jamie Dixon’s program returns all five starters from a team that took down Kansas at home and lost by just four points at Allen Fieldhouse. Mike Miles and Eddie Lampkin are energy bugs who can do enough to lead TCU to six straight wins in the NCAA Tournament format.

TCU’s tough to keep off the offensive boards, leading the country in offensive rebound percentage (37.9 percent) a season ago. Take a shot on the Horned Frogs to make history in 2023.

Memphis Tigers +10000 (implied probability 0.99 percent)

Memphis gave all Gonzaga all they could handle in the Round of 32, falling 82-78, ending the Tigers' hopes for a Cinderella-esque tournament run a season ago.

The Tigers lost a good deal of production from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, but they fared well in the transfer portal, inking Kendric Davis (19.4 ppg) from SMU and Emmanuel Akot (10.6 ppg) from Boise State to shore up the losses of Jalen Duren and Lester Quinones, among others.

Memphis gets an opportunity to bolster its seed line with two regular-season games against Houston, and it could very well make a run in next year’s NCAA Tournament.

More NCAA Tournament Champion long shots to consider: Washington State (+30000); St. John’s (+40000)