NCAA Tournament 2023: Early Predictions, Championship Odds for Men's March Madness

As the 2022-23 college basketball regular season begins to fade to black, the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is starting to come into clear view.

Several conferences just have a few games left, but others have already started their conference tournaments with an automatic bid on the line. Teams on the bubble are running out of time to make their final statements to be included in March Madness, and the selection committee has some homework to do.

Selection Sunday is scheduled for March 12 this year. From there, the hunt for that One Shining Moment begins.

There's still time for contenders to emerge and teams to round themselves into tournament shape. But for now, here are the teams with the top odds to claim the title and a few predictions for how the NCAA Tournament will play out.

Championship Odds

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Houston's Marcus Sasser (0) and Tramon Mark (12).

Houston +650 (bet $100 to win $650)

Kansas +850

Alabama +900

UCLA +1200

Purdue +1200

Arizona +1600

Baylor +1800

Texas +1800

UConn +2000

Tennessee +2500

Gonzaga +2500

Marquette +3000

Saint Marys +3000

Indiana +3000

Virginia +3000

Creighton +3000

Complete list of odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Purdue Destined for Early Exit

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer will have to step it up for Purdue to avoid an upset.

On first glance, the Purdue Boilermakers look like a legitimate threat to win the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. But upon closer inspection, they have a few fatal flaws that will make a deep run difficult.

Purdue is still hanging on to a No. 1 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest projected field. It seems unlikely it will stay on that line for long. It is 2-4 in its last six games, including two losses to Indiana and losses to Northwestern and Maryland.

It has already locked up a share of the regular-season Big Ten championship. But the tournament doesn't really care about early-season success, it's all about how you're playing at the end of the year.

Purdue leans heavily on Wooden Award hopeful Zach Edey. The 7'4" center is difficult to guard and leads the country in rebounds.

But guards often tell the story in March. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are both freshmen, and it shows at times. Purdue is tied for 277th in turnover margin and gives the ball away to opponents more often than not.

That's fine when Purdue is getting to play the slow brand of basketball it embraces. It ranks 321st in tempo, per KenPom. But what happens when a team is able to pressure its guards and force a faster-paced game? An upset.

It might not come in the first two rounds, but the Boilermakers are not a lock to advance to the Elite Eight.

Toledo Will Pull off a Major Upset

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TOLEDO, OH - FEBRUARY 21: From the left, Toledo Rockets forward JT Shumate (32), guard Ra'Heim Moss (0), guard RayJ Dennis (10), forward Setric Millner Jr. (4), and guard Dante Maddox Jr. (21) walk onto the court after a timeout during the second half of a Mid-American Conference regular season college basketball game between the Akron Zips and the Toledo Rockets on February 21, 2023 at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There are a few qualities that can make an underdog a scary team come tournament time, like an experienced group of players who can hit threes and take care of the ball.

The Toledo Rockets tick those boxes.

Each of the Rockets' top four scorers has at least three years of experience playing significant minutes. The Rockets are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country and have five players who are shooting over 40 percent from three-point range for the season.

They also don't beat themselves with costly turnovers. They are 10th in the country in turnovers per game while forcing their opponents into 13.

Now, think about them getting paired against a team like Purdue. The Boilermakers' slow, yet turnover-prone style could lead to an early advantage for Toledo, and its three-point shooting can allow it to build a big lead in a hurry.

The Rockets have to get past Kent State in the MAC tournament, but if they can do that, they aren't the team that higher seeds want to see.

Kansas Wins the Title

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Dajuan Harris Jr. of Kansas.

Get ready for a repeat champion. The Kansas Jayhawks have all the ingredients to win their second national championship in as many tries.

This year's team looks quite different. Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris are back as returning starters, but the supporting cast is full of different names and faces. What hasn't changed is that the Jayhawks have proved they are elite.

They are 25-5, but they've avenged four of those losses. An early loss to Tennessee is the lone exception, but it shouldn't really factor into how this team is playing right now.

If current trends hold, they will enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. They've won seven consecutive games and are 9-1 over their last 10 games in a deep Big 12.

The Jayhawks have played a brutal schedule and still managed to be one of the most consistent teams in the nation. They had the top schedule in KenPom's rankings and the most wins against Quad 1 teams, with a record of 16-5.

Wilson is the star of the team, but they have another electric scoring option in freshman Gradey Dick and a group of athletic defenders who can match up with anyone.

They are one of the few teams in the country ranked in the top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Given their level of competition, that's an impressive feat and speaks to how well-rounded they are.