• March Madness

2025 March Madness Bracket Predictions & Odds – Best Bets for Your Bracket

Betting on March Madness bracket predictions and the chance for historic upsets drive the NCAA Tournament’s popularity. With Selection Sunday in the books, we officially have the 68 teams with a chance to win the Men’s National Championship this year.

Keep reading to see the updated March Madness odds from top college basketball betting sites. I will analyze the current odds, highlight the leading contenders, and break down my 2025 NCAA Tournament predictions.

March Madness Odds – Who Are the Favorites?

See the table below for the updated March Madness odds, courtesy of BetOnline.

Team	Odds to Win March Madness
#1 Duke Blue Devils	+300
#1 Florida Gators	+350
#1 Auburn Tigers	+400
#1 Houston Cougars	+700
#2 Alabama Crimson Tide	+1600
#2 Tennessee Volunteers	+1600
#2 St John’s Red Storm	+2000
#4 Arizona Wildcats	+2500
#2 Michigan State Spartans	+2500
#3 Texas Tech Red Raiders	+2800

Auburn is the top overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, but the Tigers (+400) are only third in the latest March Madness betting odds. They are behind fellow number-one seeds Duke (+300) and Florida (+350). Houston (+700) has the longest odds of any number-one seed.

Alabama and Tennessee are tied for the fifth-best odds at 16-1 each. The Crimson Tide and the Volunteers have the best odds for non-number-one seeds.

Arizona (+2500) has the eighth-best odds despite being a number-four seed. They are tied with #2 Michigan State and are listed with shorter odds than any of the number-three seeds in this year’s tournament.          

2025 March Madness Bracket Predictions – Top Contenders to Watch

The four number-one seeds have the shortest odds to win March Madness and will be popular 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions. Let’s take a closer look at the top four favorites to win March Madness this season.

Duke Blue Devils (+300)

Duke is the +300 favorite to win the National Championship this season. The Blue Devils dominated their conference playoffs en route to winning the ACC championship. To make their win even more impressive, Duke won the ACC without Cooper Flagg.

Flagg sprained his right ankle in Duke’s win over Georgia Tech in the ACC quarterfinals. He missed the Blue Devils conference Semifinals and Finals wins over UNC and Louisville. Flagg will play in Duke’s round-one matchup.

The Blue Devils do not yet know their first opponent, but you should not shy away from them in your March Madness brackets predictions. Duke will face the winner of the First Four matchup between #16 Mount St. Mary’s and #16 American.

Duke is listed at -140 to win the East Region, the shortest odds of any number-one seed to win its region. The Blue Devils also have an easier region than Auburn in the South and Houston in the Midwest.

Florida Gators (+350)

Florida won the SEC for the first time since 2014, earning the Gators a number-one seed in March Madness. The Gators’ impressive playoff run included blowout wins over Missouri and Alabama. They also beat Tennessee 86-77 in the title game.

The Tigers, Crimson Tide, and Volunteers are all high seeds in this year’s March Madness tournament. If Florida can be as dominant in the NCAA Tournament as they were in the SEC playoffs, they will make a deep run.

Despite their recent success, the Gators only have the second-best odds to win the title at +350. The West Region includes many tough challenges for the Gators, such as Blue Bloods like Kansas And UConn, as well as Big East champion St John’s.  

Auburn Tigers (+400)

The Auburn Tigers are the number-one overall seed in the 2025 March Madness tournament. However, the Tigers are only listed at 4-1 odds to win the tournament, giving them the third-best odds overall.

Despite its odds of winning the title, Auburn has the shortest odds of reaching the title game. At +170, it is listed ahead of Duke (+185) and Florida (+190).

Auburn’s path to the championship is full of potential hurdles. They will face either Alabama State or Saint Francis in round one. Then, the Tigers will face either Louisville or Creighton in round two.

The Cardinals and the Bluejays finished as runners-up in their respective conference tournaments. Other tough potential opponents in the South Region include #2 Michigan State, Iowa State, and Big 10 champion Michigan. 

Houston Cougars (+700)

Houston earned the number-one seed in the Midwest Region, but the Cougars are a distant fourth behind the other number-one seeds. The Cougars won the Big 12 with a 72-64 win over Arizona in the conference championship game. Secure betting sites list Houston at 7-1 odds to win the National Championship.

The Cougars open March Madness with a Round One matchup with Ohio Valley Conference champions Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). Interestingly, SIUE also uses a Cougar as its mascot.

After dispatching SIUE, Houston will face either Gonzaga or Georgia. The road to the championship only gets more demanding for the Cougars, as Purdue, Kentucky, and Tennessee are all in the South Region.

March Madness Bracket Strategies – How to Make the Best Picks

A correctly predicted March Madness bracket can be your ticket to huge cash prizes. Here are three strategies to help you make the correct picks in your March Madness bracket.

Top Seeds vs. Upsets

Top seeds earned their place with great regular season and conference tournament performances. However, upsets can and do happen in March Madness. Identifying surging teams and lineup mismatches is the key to knowing when to trust the favorite or pick the upset.

Historic Trends

Every March Madness tournament is unique, but you can still learn a lot by studying previous NCAA Tournaments. For instance, teams with experienced upperclassmen often do better than squads relying on one-and-done superstars.

Betting vs. Brackets

One of the most essential skills to master with NCAA Tournament betting is knowing the difference between bracket betting and betting odds. Wagering on individual games is much different than picking all 60+ games for a bracket.

One wrong move can throw off your whole bracket, so you must be extra careful when selecting and identifying which teams you think will make a deep run. Bracket betting is often done in a contest format, too, and you receive points for every correct pick. As a result, even if your bracket is imperfect, you can still win money.

Best Bets & Predictions for the 2025 NCAA Tournament

Here are my March Madness best bets for this year’s tournament.

Best Chalk Picks

My top two chalk picks are Duke and Florida. They are arguably the two best teams in this year’s tournament and will not face one another until the finals.

I also like the Blue Devils and the Gators because their regions are easier than Auburn’s and Houston’s. Duke feels especially safe because of the return of Cooper Flagg. Alabama and Tennessee, who both made it to at least the Elite Eight last year, are the number-two seeds that should make deep runs again this year.

Potential Bracket-Busters

If you want to hit your March Madness bracket predictions, you must avoid busting your bracket early. Identifying upsets is easier said than done, but it can set your bracket apart from the pack.

The team I think has the best chance to break the bracket early is #14 Troy. They face #3 Kentucky, which has disappointed in its recent March Madness appearances. If the Wildcats’ struggles continue, Troy will advance and bust many brackets.

Two other bracket-busters to watch are #9 Creighton and #12 UC San Diego. Creighton was the runner-up in the Big East conference playoffs, and UC San Diego won the Big West. If Louisville and Michigan take their first-round opponents lightly, they could go home early.

Dark Horse Picks

NC State’s run to the Final Four as a #11 seed is what every dark horse aspires to be. My top March Madness 2025 sleepers are the following:

• North Carolina (+25000)
• UC San Diego (+30000)
• Texas (+100000)

UNC has the longest odds of any Blue Blood to make this year’s tournament. The Tarheels have made Cinderella runs before, such as their run to the title game as a #8 seed in 2022.

UC San Diego and Texas are also great sleeper picks. The #11 Longhorns beat Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, but they must earn their spot by beating #11 Xavier in their First Four matchup. UC San Diego won its conference and will have plenty of momentum going into its Round One matchup with Big 10 champ Michigan.

What Are Your 2025 March Madness Bracket Predictions?

The correct March Madness bracket predictions could be your ticket to winning big prizes this spring. Here are my recommendations to consider when making your predictions.

• Duke, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee will go deep
• Creighton, UC San Diego, and Troy are potential bracket-busters
• UNC, UC San Diego, and Texas are great sleeper picks

Create your BetOnline account today to bet on the latest March Madness odds for your predictions.