Title game: Duke, Kansas, Villanova among 2020-21 men’s basketball championship favorites

College basketball season ended without a champion due to the coronavirus pandemic, but oddsmakers looking ahead on what would have been championship Monday are seeing plenty of familiar faces.

Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Gonzaga are 10-1 co-favorites to win it all next year based on odds released by William Hill Sportsbook.

Kansas wrapped the canceled 2019-20 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the final Top 25 poll. Kentucky will again lose significant talent, including both Wildcats starting guards who declared for the NBA draft. Duke again has a flood of talent arriving in Durham and Gonzaga should again be the class of the little guys.

Baylor, Gonzaga and Villanova are even 10-1 favorites via Fan Duel Sportsbook, which has Virginia (12-1) and Creighton (12-1) ahead of Kentucky (14-1), Duke (15-1) and Kansas (17-1).

Early basketball odds are a serious roll of the dice.

College basketball players have an April 26 deadline to declare for the NBA draft. But they can withdraw from the draft until June 15. The introduction of free agency type transferring — known as the transfer portal — adds another variable in projecting what rosters might look like when next season begins.

The Big Ten was projected to have as many as nine teams in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State got hot entering March and had risen to 12-1 odds to win the title this season. The Spartans lose All-Big Ten point guard Cassius Winston, among others, but head coach Tom Izzo has a wealth of talent — including Marquette transfer Joey Hauser — coming in for 2020-21.

The Spartans are 18-1 for next year’s title, behind Virginia (12-1) and Baylor (14-1), via William Hill and 24-1 according to Fan Duel. Fan Duel lists Iowa (20-1) as the top dog in the Big Ten.

At William Hill, Creighton and Villanova are 20-1 and Oregon and Florida State are 25-1.

–Field Level Media