Virginia and Kentucky are co-favorites to win the 2020 NCAA Tournament, according to the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas.
The sportsbook listed both teams as 7/1 favorites when it posted its college basketball futures odds on April 9.
Virginia won its first national title by taking down Texas Tech in an overtime thriller on April 8. The Cavaliers needed overtime twice and three free throws from Kyle Guy with 0.6 seconds remaining against Auburn to prevail in their final three games.
Tony Bennett’s team loses only one senior in center Jack Salt, but sophomore De’Andre Hunter has declared for the NBA draft and is a projected lottery pick. Guy, the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament, Ty Jerome and Kamari Diakite have also declared early. Jerome is a late first-round selection in most mock drafts.
It’s unlikely that Jerome will pull out of the draft and come back to school, but that’s not the case with Guy or Diakite.
Guy isn’t listed in NBADraft.net’s updated 2019 mock (on April 18) and he’s a second-round choice at No. 44 overall in the website’s 2020 mock. Diakite also declared but he isn’t listed in NBADraft.net’s mock for 2019 or ’20. Diakite made the buzzer-beating shot to force overtime in UVA’s epic Elite Eight win over Purdue.
Virginia brings back Kihei Clark, Braxton Key and Jay Huff. If Guy and Diakite return to school, the Cavs will have enough talent to potentially repeat as national champs.
Three five-star recruits are on the way to Lexington to play for Kentucky, in addition to Bucknell grad transfer Nate Sestina. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for the Bison this past season. Sestina drained 41 treys (38.0%) and made 81.8 percent of his free-throw attempts.
John Calipari lost four early-entry players to the NBA draft, with Keldon Johnson, P.J. Washington and Tyler Herro projected as first-round picks. Travis Reid also departs, and E.J. Montgomery surprisingly declared just before the deadline. Nevertheless, players like Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley and Nick Richards are returning.
Duke and Michigan State share the next-shortest odds at 8/1. The Blue Devils got good news on April 8 when freshman point guard Tre Jones announced his intentions to come back for his sophomore campaign. However, the freshman trio of Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and R.J. Barrett are gone. Three elite freshmen, including 6-foot-10 Vernon Carey, will arrive in Durham to join the likes of Marques Bolden and Alex O’Connell.
Tom Izzo’s squad loses Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid. Star point guard Cassius Winston announced he’ll return next week, but center Nick Ward is turning pro a year early. NBADraft.net has Winston going in the second round at No. 49 overall in its 2020 mock, but Ward isn’t listed in either mock.
Joshua Langford was averaging 15.0 points per game before going down with a season-ending injury on Dec. 29. If he returns at 100 percent, Langford will be one of the top players in the Big Ten. The Spartans also bring back Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry and welcome top recruits Rocket Watts (great name!) and Malik Hall.
Winston garnered first-team All-American honors this past season and he should be even better next year. He averaged 18.8 points, 7.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Winston drained 84.0 percent of his free-throw attempts, 39.8 percent of his 3-pointers and had a 291/114 assist-to-turnover ratio. With Winston and a healthy Langford returning, Izzo will have an outstanding chance to get back to the Final Four and win his first national title since 2000.
Michigan has 12/1 odds, followed by North Carolina, Villanova and Gonzaga, who share 14/1 odds. The Wolverines, who lost to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16, will have to wait on the decisions of Ignas Brazdeikis and Jordan Poole after both chose to test the NBA waters. Brazdeikis is a second-round pick at No. 47 overall in NBADraft.net’s latest mock, but Poole goes undrafted in the website’s mocks for this year and next.
Senior Charles Matthews is gone, but John Beilein gets back Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske. If Poole and/or Brazdeikis return, Michigan will again be in the mix of teams capable of making a Final Four run.
North Carolina is losing a pair of projected lottery picks in Coby White and Nassir Little. Seniors Cam Johnson and Luke Maye are also big losses for the Tar Heels. Johnson is pegged as a late first-rounder or early second-round choice.
Roy Williams brings back Seventh Woods, Garrison Brooks, Sterling Manley and Leaky Black. Freshman Armando Bacot will arrive in Chapel Hill as a McDonald’s All-American will big expectations. Williams is hoping to add the nation’s No. 1 point guard, Cole Anthony, to this recruiting class. Anthony, the son of UNLV legend Greg, will decide between UNC, Oregon, Georgetown and Notre Dame on April 22.
Villanova loses a pair of seniors in Phil Booth and Eric Paschall, but Jay Wright has an outstanding class on the way. Bryan Antoine and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl were both McDonald’s All-Americans, and Justin Moore is expected to contribute early. This trio joins returning players like Collin Gillespie, Jermain Samuels, Saddiq Bey and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree.
Mark Few is bringing in six freshmen who compose a recruiting class that’s ranked fifth in the nation at 247Sports.com. Those additions are needed since Brandon Clarke, Josh Perkins and Rui Hachimura are gone after guiding Gonzaga to an Elite Eight appearance. The Bulldogs are hunting a grad transfer and this roster spot will probably be used on a point guard. If not, Brock Ravet will have a lot on his shoulders for a true freshman.
Gonzaga’s nucleus will likely consist of Zach Norvell, Killian Tillie and Corey Kispert, in addition to Drew Timme, Anton Watson and Martynas Arlauskas. Four of the six freshmen are 6-foot-10 ‘bigs.’
Arizona, Kansas, Louisville and Oregon share 20/1 odds. The next-shortest odds belong to Mississippi St. (30/1), Tennessee (30/1), Auburn (30/1), Texas Tech (30/1) and Texas (40/1).