All You Need to Know About the NCAA Tournament 2023

The NCAA Tournament is nearly upon us again, with college’s top basketball teams fighting it out to be the very best. But what teams are the favorites? If you’re considering NCAA Tournament betting, check out this article for everything you need to know.

While a few teams are standing out as favorites to bring home the NCAA 2023 basketball tournament crown, it’s a pretty open field. With most top players going to the NBA after one year of college, several teams could viably bring home the title any given year.

Let’s take a look at the teams that are the most popular betting options at 2023 NCAA basketball tournament sites, as well as some history of the tournament and its greatest teams, players, and moments.

• Important Information About the NCAA Tournament
• 2023 NCAA Tournament Betting Favorites
• Most Successful NCAA Basketball Tournament Teams
• NCAA Tournament’s Greatest Players
• Best NCAA Tournament Games

The NCAA 2023 Basketball Tournament – Important Information

The NCAA Tournament 2023 will start with Selection Sunday on March 12th, before the two-day play in tournament, known as the First Four, takes place on March 14-15 in Dayton Ohio. The Tournament will begin in earnest on March 16th with first round games from various cities around the US.

All this excitement will lead up to April 1st for the Final Four, before the 2023 NCAA Tournament Champion will be crowned with the final on April 3rd. All Final Four games will be played at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Houston are the current NCAA Tournament betting favorites and number one seed, so many are assuming home court advantage for the Cougars in the final. However, as has been proven many times before, anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament.

Betting Favorites at 2023 NCAA Basketball Tournament Sites

At the point of writing there are a few favorites at 2023 NCAA basketball tournament sites. While most teams stand at odds of +2,000 or longer, six teams sit below that threshold. The list includes the UCLA Bruins and Alabama Crimson Tide at fourth and fifth favorite, both of whom are usually in the top ten for betting odds in any NCAA Tournament.

Topping the list is the Houston Cougars who have had a spectacular season under head coach Kelvin Sampson. This is quite the exciting prospect, as the Cougars have never won an NCAA Tournament and haven’t been in the finals since back-to-back appearances by Akeem Olajuwan’s Phi Slama Jama in 1983 and 1984.

Last year’s champions, the Kansas Jayhawks, stand in second position behind Jalen Wilson’s team leading stats of over 20 points and nearly nine rebounds per game. The Jayhawks are just above the third favorite Purdue Boilermakers. The Tennessee Volunteers are at the bottom of the pack of six odds leaders.

The way the NCAA Tournament has gone in recent years, any of these six teams could take the title, or it may well be another year of a surprise team making a run all the way to the final so those engaging in NCAA tournament betting have a tough and exciting path ahead. To learn more, check out our guide to the best online sportsbooks.

The Most Successful NCAA Tournament Teams

While many teams have enjoyed success in the NCAA Tournament, UCLA stands head and shoulders above with 11 championships including seven straight between 1967 and 1973. The Bruins are, in fact, the only team to date to be in double figures in championships, with the Kentucky Wildcats holding the second spot with eight.

North Carolina Tarheels has 20 appearances, but the team has only taken the NCAA title slightly over 25% of those times, holding six titles across the college’s storied history.

In the last 10 years, there has been no dominant team at the top, with only Villanova winning the title twice since 2012 (in 2016 and 2018). Prior to this period, Villanova only had one previous NCAA title back in 1985 as an eighth seed with one of the greatest Cinderella stories in sports.

Only two teams have finished as runner-up twice since 2012, North Carolina and Gonzaga. This is a sign that the era of dominance for big name teams in the NCAA Tournament may be over with the field being much more open in the current college basketball world.

The NCAA Tournament’s Greatest Players

Great teams need great players, and a number of men have stood out over the decades thanks to the impact they made on the NCAA Tournament. Some became NBA legends, others had careers that didn’t quite plan out, but each of these players has earned pride of place in the storied history of the NCAA Tournament.

Lew Alcindor

Later to dominate the NBA as a Laker after becoming Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Alcindor is, without question, the greatest player in the history of college basketball. Alcindor played three seasons at UCLA, he won the NCAA Tournament and was named Most Outstanding Player in all three, it doesn’t get better than that.

Alcindor is also the reason the dunk was banned in NCAA basketball for a time, in an effort to make the playing field fairer. Quite the college legacy for one player to enjoy.

Christian Laettner

It takes a lot to stand out as the most hated player on a team as hated as Duke was in the 90s, but Christian Laettner managed it, and he did it by simply being incredible at basketball. Laettner holds the records for most games played, most free throws made, most three throws attempted, and most points scored in NCAA Tournament history.

With a championship and a Most Outstanding Player award to his name, Laettner was so good he was the lone college player selected for the famed Dream Team at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Bill Russell

The University of San Francisco won back-to-back NCAA Tournament Finals in 1955 and 1956, and defensive juggernaut Bill Russell averaged 20 points and 20 rebounds throughout both years. A true legend of the game and a legacy that will stand forever in both the NCAA and NBA, they don’t come better than Bill Russell.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

Two names that were tied together throughout their college and professional careers, it’s impossible to separate Bird and Magic. Johnson gets the edge when it comes to college careers purely because his Michigan State Spartans defeated Bird’s Indiana State in the 1979 NCAA Finals, but these two were far and away the greatest players in college basketball at that time.

Bill Walton

Bill Walton has a similar legacy to Christian Laettner, one of the greatest college players ever, with a decent professional career, but one that fell short of expectations. That said, nothing can take away the 21 for 22 shooting performance Walton put on in the 1973 NCAA Tournament finals, en route to winning his second straight title and second straight Most Outstanding Player Award.

The Best NCAA Tournament Games

While there is rarely a boring NCAA Tournament game, there’s a special formula involved in being one of the very best. Excitement, twists, turns, and memorable moments are abundant in our pick of some of the greatest ever NCAA tournament games:

Duke vs Kentucky – 1992 NCAA East Regional Final

Just a year on from hitting two clutch free throws to put Duke over UNLV in the national semi-finals, Christian Laettner outdid himself in the 1992 East Regional Final against Kentucky.

The game was epic throughout, and as overtime came to a close, Kentucky saw heroics from Sean Woods to grab a one-point lead as the clock ran down. With just 2.3 seconds left and the ball under their own basket, Grant Hill – a Duke legend in his own right – threw a Hail Mary pass that reached Laettner’s rangy arms, before the star forward hit a turnaround 15-footer to give Duke the 104-103 win.

North Carolina vs Kansas – 1957 NCAA Championship Game North

Wilt Chamberlain’s averages of close to 30 points and 20 rebounds a game had seen Kansas dominate all competition leading into this game. However, UNC had a gameplan, and it was a simple one, put three defenders on Wilt at all times. It worked, as the low-scoring affair went to triple overtime before UNC pulled out the 54-53 win.

UMBC vs Virginia – 2018 South Regional First Round

16 seeds don’t beat first seeds, this was something everyone knew after seeing it not happen 135 consecutive times leading into this seemingly arbitrary game between powerhouse Virginia and plucky underdog UMBC.

UMBC were the 20.5 point underdog in NCAA Tournament betting before the game, meaning losing by 20 points would still suit those who had bet the spread. Instead UMBC shocked the world and didn’t only beat Virginia, but did so by 20.