Follow live coverage as UConn, Purdue play for the national championship today
The Final Four is set for the 2024 men’s NCAA Tournament and two favorites have emerged ahead of Saturday’s games. The UConn Huskies are the clear title favorites, but Purdue is also favored by several points in the other national semifinal that will take place on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz.
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The defending champion Huskies became the first team to make the Final Four in back-to-back years since North Carolina in 2016 and 2017. Those Tar Heels were runners up in 2016 and won it all a year later. UConn can be the first back-to-back champions since Joakim Noah’s Florida in 2006 and 2007.
UConn is a -225 favorite to win the title on BetMGM. Those odds show an impressive amount of confidence in Dan Hurley’s team to complete the repeat.
2024 men’s NCAA Tournament national title odds
Odds are from BetMGM and update live. Find the best ticket deals on StubHub to see your favorite team.
Those odds show that if UConn doesn’t win it will be a big surprise, but if it’s not UConn or Purdue it would be a true shock.
UConn opened as the favorite at +1100 (11-to-1) after winning the title last year. The Huskies were again the favorite at +400 when the NCAA Tournament started this year with UConn as the overall No. 1 seed. After four dominant performances in the East Regional where the Huskies led by at least 30 points in every game, UConn is expected to keep that going in Arizona.
The Huskies will take on Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday and opened as an 11.5-point favorite. Alabama is a high-scoring, up-tempo team so the listed point total is somewhat high at 161.5. The Crimson Tide are taking part in the program’s first Final Four and matched the football team’s appearance in the College Football Playoff this past season.
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Purdue, the only other No. 1 seed to make the Final Four, is a significant favorite against the surprise team of this tournament, North Carolina State. The Boilermakers are a 9.5-point favorite against the Wolfpack, the No. 11 seed in the South Regional.
Neither of these teams have been to the Final Four since the early 1980s, but NC State’s run came out of nowhere. The Wolfpack needed to win five games in five days to win the ACC tournament just to get into the Big Dance. The run has continued with four more upsets to get to the Final Four. NC State big man DJ Burns has been one of the stars of this tournament and scored 29 points in the Elite Eight against Duke.
With respect to Burns, if UConn and Purdue win as expected, a Donovan Clingan vs. Zach Edey matchup in the national title game would be a meeting of the two biggest stars of the tournament. The 7-foot-2 Clingan has been destructive on the defensive end for UConn and the 7-foot-4 Edey is coming off a 40-point game against Tennessee in Sunday’s Elite Eight win.
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Final Four model projections
Austin Mock’s model also favors UConn and Purdue. His model came up with these projected scores:
- UConn 85, Alabama 76
- Purdue 79, NC State 68.5
As far as national title chances, UConn is also the favorite in his simulations, although is not as favored as in the betting odds.
(Photo of Donovan Clingan: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
