Ranking Five Favorite Teams to Dominate March Madness

The Teams to Beat

If you were given five schools to choose ahead of the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, or five in the field of 64 (that’s after the play-in games), “who ya got?” March Madness always takes on a life of its own, even in this era of legalized gambling, NILs, and the transfer portal. 

There will be buzzer beaters, bracket busters and stunning results, but also teams who logically figure to make deep runs this month, perhaps those who eventually cut down the nets.  

As the first round of the 2025 tourney prepares to begin on March 20th and 21st, teams, fans, boosters, and bettors are anxiously anticipating who plays whom and where. One of the storylines finds the Connecticut Huskies, their rocky regular season and all, trying to become the first school to win three titles in a row since the dynastic UCLA Bruins a half-century ago.

UConn will undoubtedly have their supporters the favorites of the gazillion of people filling out a March Madness bracket, but will they be among your five favorites? 

Nationally-ranked schools are going to have their backers, including the Duke Blue Devils, Houston Cougars, Auburn Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators, St. John’s Red Storm. Michigan St. Spartans, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Tech Red Raiders and Clemson Tigers.

Four of the teams representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a testament to how strong that conference has been this season.

That doesn’t mean success is guaranteed to carry over to the tournaments. Bettors need to think outside the box when examining March Madness games, zigging when the rest of the world is zagging. In other words, expect some stunners and take shots with them. 

Who are the oddsmakers tabbing as the teams with the best chance of winning it all? Read below to find out. Meanwhile, here’s a bit of a primer on the Big Dance of 2025…

Where Is 2025 March Madness?

NCAAB news has the men’s basketball tournament beginning at its usual venue of Dayton, Ohio. Four of the March 18th and 19th play-in games determine the teams filling out the full field of 64. Then, the tourney traverses the United States, with the opening round at eight arenas in Lexington, Kentucky, Providence, Rhode Island, Seattle, Washington, Wichita, Kansas, Cleveland, Ohio, Denver, Colorado, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Raleigh, North Carolina.  

Eventually, the March Madness schedule winds its way to the cavernous Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Final Four begins April 5th, with the national title game going on April 7th.

Why Is It Called March Madness?

Though ending in April, March Madness earned its name due to the huge interest and “predictable unpredictability” of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Just about everyone and their uncle is involved, betting their money on individual games and/or future wagers or filling out a free-to-participate pool. 

Of course, there’s no one who has ever come close to correctly predicting all 63 winners (we’re not counting play-in games). That’s another maddening aspect of the March Madness bracket. Season after season, however, it’s a quest to try and be the first.

Who is poised to make a deep run in the tourney? Which 2-seed is probably losing to a 15? What about those tricky pairings of 8-9 seeds? 

Does BetUS Have Constant Updates on March Madness Winners’ Odds? 

March Madness picks and predictions include a variety of options, especially when it comes to the biggest prize out there, the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball championship winner.  As of this writing with the major conference postseason tournaments about to start, there are four teams dominating the market.

It’s the Duke Blue Devils as tepid 13-4 (+325) favorites to win their first title in a decade, the second-choice Auburn Tigers at 15-4 (+375).  

Priced at 7-1 (+700) are the Florida Gators, while the Houston Cougars are 8-1 (+800) on the NCAAB betting odds, the only other team under double digits in mid-March. At No. 5 on the betting board are the 11-1 (+1100) Alabama Crimson Tide.

The aforementioned three-peat attempt of the Connecticut Huskies has them as a 50-1 (+5000) proposition. If you prefer bombardier odds with your wager, there are any number of teams priced at 500-1 (+50000).  

Note the odds of winning the title are fluid. Do not forget to check ‘em before wagering.

Any Final Thoughts?

Fans of NCAAB rumors are in their glory around this time of year. Teams they know well and teams they know nothing about, both come into play in the tournament. Who has a shot to win it all and who’s a one-and-done entity? Do some homework and figure it out.