NCAA Tournament 2022: Early Predictions, Championship Odds for March Madness

There's no better time during the college basketball season than March. As you've likely heard, this is when the madness takes place, because anything can happen.

Right now, conference tournaments are taking place around the country. The winners of those will receive an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA tournament, while the other 36 teams in the field will be chosen by the selection committee. The 68-team bracket will be revealed on Selection Sunday, which is set for March 13.

It won't take long for that field to be cut down. The Final Four is scheduled to take place April 2, then a national champion will be crowned on April 4.

Here's a look at the teams that have the top odds to win the national title this year, followed by some predictions for how the NCAA tournament could unfold.

Current Top Odds to Win National Championship

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Gonzaga: +350 (bet $100 to win $350)

Arizona: +700

Kentucky: +700

Purdue: +1100

Duke: +1200

Auburn: +1200

Baylor: +1400

Kansas: +1400

UCLA: +2500

Villanova: +2500

Texas Tech: +2500

Tennessee: +3500

Houston: +4000

Illinois: +5000

Wisconsin: +5000

Complete list of odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Kent State Could Be Dark Horse for a Deep Run

William Wotring/Associated Press

If you're looking for an early potential Cinderella team for March Madness this year, look no further than Kent State. Entering their regular-season finale, the Golden Eagles are the No. 2 team in the MAC and could be poised to make a run to the conference tournament championship.

Kent State is on an impressive 11-game winning streak that has moved it up the MAC standings. However, it will need to win the conference tourney to make it to the NCAA tournament. But the Golden Eagles are capable of doing that, as they've shown during their current run.

Junior guard Sincere Carry could power Kent State into March Madness, then to a strong showing in the tourney. He's averaging 18.7 points per game, and he can put up big numbers on any given night, as he showed by dropping 42 points in a win over Ball State on Feb. 22.

So while it may be a bit early to identify the surprise teams of the 2022 NCAA tournament, Kent State has the potential to be this year's Cinderella squad, if it can play its way into the field.

Baylor's Quest to Repeat Will End in Elite Eight

Emil Lippe/Associated Press

It's challenging to emerge from the 68-team field in March Madness as the national champion. It's even more difficult to accomplish the feat in back-to-back years. That's why only seven teams have done it, and none since Florida captured two straight titles in 2006 and 2007.

This year, Baylor will be looking to win the NCAA tournament for the second straight season after it captured the first national championship in program history in 2021. And the Bears are again one of the top teams in the country, as they have a strong chance of being one of the four No. 1 seeds in the bracket.

Baylor should have another impressive showing this March, one that could include it winning the Big 12 tournament. However, there are plenty of other talented teams that will be capable of taking down the Bears late in the NCAA tournament.

That's why Baylor's quest to repeat is going to fall short, even though it will be another successful season for the program. The prediction here is that the Bears' March Madness run will end in the Elite Eight.

Gonzaga Will Make It Back to National Championship Game

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Last year, Gonzaga won its first 31 games of the season before losing to Baylor in the national championship game. It was an incredible season for the Bulldogs, but they came up one win short of the first national title in program history. And it was the second time in five years that they were the runners-up in March Madness.

Throughout the 2021-22 season, Gonzaga hasn't been quite as impressive, considering it has lost three games, falling to Duke, Alabama and Saint Mary's. Still, that's an incredibly successful season, and the Bulldogs are likely going to win the West Coast Conference tournament and again be a No. 1 seed for March Madness (perhaps even the No. 1 overall seed for the second straight year).

Junior forward Drew Timme (17.6 points per game) knows what it felt like when Gonzaga came up just short last year, and now he's joined in the frontcourt by Chet Holmgren (14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game), a 7-foot freshman center who has impressed this season.

Will the Bulldogs finally win a national title in 2022? That may depend on who they go up against. But they're going to at least get an opportunity, as they should make it back to the national championship game for the second year in a row.

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