Does a Basketball Team Need to Win their Conference to Win National Championship?
08 March, 2023
The college basketball champion usually finishes their regular season with only a few blemishes on their regular season record. So, this means that they usually breeze through their conference tournaments on their way to the national title, right? Nope.
The fact of the matter is that of the last 20 national championship games, the victor had only won their conference title nine times. That means 11 times the national champion was not able to secure their own conference title.
The truth of the matter is that while winning the conference title is great, top teams are looking to cut down the nets in a national championship game. They are in fact looking past their conference tournament many times.
2023 Futures Odds (Top Ten)
Houston +600
Alabama +750
UCLA +900
Kansas +1000
Purdue +1200
Connecticut +1600
Gonzaga +1600
Arizona +1800
Baylor +2000
Texas +2500
Marquette +3300
Tennessee +3300
Will the national champion come from one of the top ten favorites?
YES -5000
No +2500