March Madness odds: With Alabama and Houston out, UConn is the new national title favorite

The absence of No. 1 seeds makes UConn the favorite to win the men’s NCAA tournament.

With favorites Alabama and Houston losing on Friday and no top seeds in the Elite Eight for the first time ever, the Huskies are the new favorites for the national title at +300 at BetMGM.

UConn looked extremely impressive in its Sweet 16 win over Arkansas on Thursday night. The Huskies will play Gonzaga on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four.

Alabama entered the Sweet 16 as the betting favorite at +350 with Houston not far behind at +400. But the Crimson Tide lost to No. 5 seed San Diego State in the South region while Houston fell to No. 5 Miami in the Midwest region. It’s the second consecutive Elite Eight appearance for the Hurricanes while San Diego State is in the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

Texas easily beat Xavier in the other Midwest region Sweet 16 game and is now the No. 2 favorite to win the national title at +350. The No. 2 seed Longhorns are the highest seed remaining in the tournament and the only No. 2 seed left.

Gonzaga is the highest seed remaining in the West region at No. 3 and the Zags are the No. 3 favorite at +400. It’s reasonable to think the winner of Saturday’s game between Gonzaga and No. 4 UConn to win the West region will be the favorite ahead of the Final Four.

If you’re looking for a value bet you can do a lot worse than Kansas State at +800. The No. 3 Wildcats face No. 9 Florida Atlantic on Saturday to win the East region and would face the winner of San Diego State and Creighton in the Final Four.

Here are the national title odds for each team ahead of the Elite Eight.

National title odds

UConn (+300)

Texas (+350)

Gonzaga (+400)

Creighton (+550)

Kansas State (+800)

San Diego State (+1000)

Miami (+1200)

Florida Atlantic (+1600)