Real March Madness: Houston Cougars are updated favorite to win NCAA Tournament
The Houston Cougars aren’t the highest remaining seed left in the NCAA Tournament, but they have the momentum. And that’s enough for oddsmakers.
Houston is the updated favorite to win the National Championship after beating No. 1 Arizona Thursday night in San Antonio. Houston is now 7/2 favorites to win the NCAA title. No. 2 Duke is next at 4/1 odds, according to betonline.ag. Houston was tied for the 10th-best odds to win the title at the start of the tournament.
The No. 5 Cougars (32-5) advanced to play No. 2 Villanova (29-7) at 5:09 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome with a trip to the Final Four on the line. No. 4 Arkansas plays the Blue Devils in the other Saturday Elite Eight game.
Houston is a two-point favorite against Villanova and Duke is 3.5-point favorites against Arkansas. The Cougars reached the Final Four a year ago before losing to eventual champion Baylor in the national semifinals. The Cougars last reached the championship game in 1984. They have never won the title.
Other regional semifinals are scheduled for Friday, including top-seed Kansas against 4-seed Providence at 6:29 p.m. followed by 11-seed Iowa State against 10-seed Miami in Chicago.
In Philadelphia, 15-seed Saint Peter’s faces 3-seed Purdue at 6:09 p.m. Friday. In the late game, 8-seed North Carolina plays 4-seed UCLA.
Updated 2022 NCAA Tournament odds
Houston: 7/2
Duke: 4/1
Kansas: 5/1
Purdue: 11/2
Villanova: 7/1
UCLA: 9/1
Arkansas: 12/1
North Carolina: 25/1
Providence: 40/1
Iowa State: 50/1
Miami: 50/1
Saint Peter’s: 100/1
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 1:26 PM.
