Men's NCAA Championship 2024: Updated Title Odds Going into Final Four

The 2024 men's NCAA tournament field has been trimmed to the Final Four, and after zero No. 1 seeds advanced this far a year ago, both UConn and Purdue are still standing this time around and on a potential collision course in the national championship game.

No. 4 seed Alabama and No. 11 seed NC State will enter Saturday's games as heavy underdogs against two teams that have been steamrolling the competition throughout the NCAA tournament, but anything can happen during March Madness.

To that point, UConn went on its title run as a No. 4 seed a year ago, and it squared off against No. 5 seed San Diego State.

Ahead you'll find the latest title odds for each of the four teams still standing, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook, along with a breakdown of what they've done to get to this point and what they still need to do to advance to Monday's championship game.

The NC State Wolfpack would not even be in the NCAA tournament had they not won five games in five days in the ACC tournament to secure the conference's automatic bid, and that might be the most compelling argument yet for an expanded March Madness field.

They upset No. 6 seed Texas Tech by 13 points in the first round and then beat fellow double-digit seed Oakland in the second round to advance beyond the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015.

That was followed by their first trip to the Elite Eight since 1986 thanks to a 67-58 victory over No. 2 seed Marquette, and they punched their ticket to the Final Four by beating ACC rival Duke for the second time this month on Sunday.

Burly 6'9", 260-pound forward DJ Burns Jr. had a season-high 29 points against Duke, and he is averaging 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 67.4 percent from the floor during the team's tournament run.

The X-factor could be the play of Mohamed Diarra inside against Zach Edey. The 6'10", 215-pound senior is giving up nearly 100 pounds to the Purdue star, but he has made a major impact inside for the Wolfpack all tournament, averaging 10.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

If the Alabama Crimson Tide can shoot the deep ball the way they did during their Elite Eight matchup with Clemson, they might just win the whole thing.

Led by Mark Sears (seven threes, 23 points) and freshman Jarin Stevenson (five threes, 19 points), the Crimson Tide knocked down a blistering 16-of-36 from beyond the arc, riding that hot shooting to an 89-82 victory and the school's first trip to the Final Four.

The Tide beat No. 1 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 to advance to the Elite Eight for just the second time, as 6'10" forward Grant Nelson was the star of that game with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.

The knock on this team for much of the year was its less-than-stellar track record against elite-level opponents, and wins over No. 13 seed Charleston and No. 12 seed Grand Canyon in the first two rounds did little to quell those concerns, but now that angle is a non-story.

Alabama ranks No. 9 in KenPom.com's adjusted tempo metric, while UConn checks in No. 315 in that same statistic, so controlling the pace of the game will be the Tide's best chance of taking down the tournament favorite.

Going back to the Purdue Boilermakers' regular-season finale against Wisconsin, center Zach Edey has posted seven straight double-doubles, averaging 28.9 points, 14.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game during that stretch.

He had a career-high 40 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the floor and 14-of-22 from the free-throw line, also pulling down 16 rebounds while playing 39 minutes in a 72-66 victory over No. 2 seed Tennessee, which got a 37-point game from star Dalton Knecht.

They needed every bit of that career-best production in a game where they shot just 3-of-15 from three-point range. That's a poor showing for any team, but especially one that averages 8.3 made threes per game and ranks second in the nation with a 40.6 percent clip from beyond the arc.

The Boilermakers won their first three NCAA tournament games against No. 16 Grambling, No. 8 Utah State and No. 5 Gonzaga by a combined 79 points, with point guard Braden Smith showing out with a 14-point, 15-assist effort against the Bulldogs in the Sweet 16.

It's going to take more than a big game from Edey for Purdue to win a national title, especially if it ends up squaring off against UConn, and Donovan Clingan can have an impact inside defensively. The guard play for Purdue will be the X-factor.

For reference, the UConn Huskies were -125 at this time last year, so they are slightly bigger favorites to win it all this time around heading into the Final Four.

And why not?

The 30-0 run they put together against an Illinois team that had been rolling offensively in the Elite Eight was one of the most dominant stretches of basketball in recent NCAA tournament history, and they can beat teams in such a wide variety of ways.

All-American guard Tristen Newton had five points on 0-of-6 shooting against Illinois and they still won by 25 points. How many teams can have a player of his caliber essentially be a non-factor and still roll to victory?

Donovan Clingan had 22 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and three steals in just 22 minutes of action in the Elite Eight, Cam Spencer had a team-high 18 points against San Diego State in the Sweet 16, Newton had a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists against Northwestern, and all five starters went for double figures in their opener against Stetson.

They have won 10 straight NCAA tournament games by 13 or more points going back to last year's title run, and it's not hard to envision that streak running to a dozen en route to becoming the first team to win back-to-back national titles since the Florida Gators in 2007.