College Basketball Odds: Why Texas Is Attractive National Title Pick

The college basketball season is about to get hot and heavy.

We’re almost a month into the 2022-23 campaign and most of the national title contenders are pretty obvious. The Houston Cougars (+700) are the consensus favorite to cut down the nets this coming April at NRG Stadium in Houston (of all places). After Kelvin Sampson’s club, there are seven teams between 12-1 and 18-1 that are also in the team photo. The Texas Longhorns, Kentucky Wildcats, Baylor Bears, Arizona Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels, Gonzaga Bulldogs and Purdue Boilermakers are all talented enough to win the whole enchilada.

But who should you bet?

I usually add my first futures wager in late November, although last year’s premonition on Kansas at 20-1 came earlier than usual. I prefer to watch college basketball teams play a handful of games to see if the hype is real before plunking my cash down on the counter. And after five games, I’m ready to bet the team I circled on the sheet a few weeks ago: Texas.

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Texas Longhorns national title odds:
+1000 DraftKings ($100 wins $1,000)
+1000 SuperBook
+1000 WynnBET
+1050 Circa Sports
+1100 PointsBet
+1200 BetMGM
+1200 BetRivers
+1200 Caesars
+1200 FanDuel ($100 wins $1,200)

For starters, I was very high on Texas coming into the season.

The Horns returned their best players — Marcus Carr and Timmy Allen — from a top-20 team and head coach Chris Beard bolstered the roster with two talented transfers and two stud freshmen. Leading scorer Tyrese Hunter (Iowa State) and third-leading scorer Sir’Jabari Rice (New Mexico State) have already been major additions, plus 19-year-old Dillon Mitchell is a double-double threat in the making.

There’s a very strong possibility that Beard has constructed a top-five defense and top-20 offense to coincide with his innate ability to make adjustments inside games. He’s a sensational coach who understands the importance of matchups. With Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright enjoying retirement, Beard may be the second-best at making halftime corrections behind Tom Izzo. And Beard’s roster is much better than Izzo’s.

Let’s not forget that the Big XII has slowly morphed into the premier college basketball conference over the last three tournaments. Kansas won the national title last year, Baylor won it two years ago and Beard’s Texas Tech squad finished second to Virginia three tourneys ago.

I believe Texas is the deepest and best-coached team from America’s best conference. Hook ’em.

Texas Longhorns +1200

RECORD: (120-126, +23.0)