Kansas basketball: Betting company gives Jayhawks unfavorable odds to win 2024 NCAA championship

Kansas basketball came into the season as the No. 1 team in the country, and they have proved why through the first half of the year. The Jayhawks hold a 12-1 record with wins over UConn, Kentucky, Tennessee, and others. But despite their No. 2 national ranking in the AP Poll, FanDuel Sportsbook gives KU the 6th best odds to win it all in March Madness.

Sitting ahead of Kansas are Purdue (+800), Arizona (+1100), Houston (+1100), Connecticut (+1500), and Marquette (+1500).

Purdue is an understandable choice, but the others being ahead of KU seems just wrong. If the odds were not made before Arizona was blown out by Stanford, then I'm not sure what the people over at FanDuel are thinking. Their biggest win is over Duke, a team who has since lost to Georgia Tech and Arkansas, and they dropped a game vs. FAU who recently was upset by Florida Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, Houston played eight Quadrant 4 teams in its nonconference schedule, tied for the most of any Power 5 school. Should we be praising their program for scheduling buy games, or should we wait before jumping the gun and calling them equal to or better than KU? According to FanDuel's logic, Kansas has only lost to a team with +1500 odds to win it all but is penalized more because Houston is undefeated with its best win against Texas A&M. Make it make sense.

As for UConn, it shouldn't need to be explained why Kansas should have better odds. Not only did the Huskies lose to the Jayhawks, but they are losing top big man Donovan Clingan for over a month and could lose traction in the Big East.

While the odds are pretty ridiculous, these might be the best you'll see all season, so if you're into betting you might want to put some money on Kansas basketball.