Kentucky Men's Basketball holds third-highest odds to win 2022 NCAA Tournament

The oddsmakers are high on Kentucky bouncing back in a major way.

According to BetOnline.ag, the Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball Team currently holds the third-best odds to come away as the 2021-22 NCAA Tournament Champions at +1100. The only two teams above the ‘Cats are Gonzaga (+600) and Michigan (+800) while UCLA is tied with Kentucky at +1100.

Who's your dark horse to win this year's #NCAA basketball championship? Here are the current favorites. (BetOnline)

Gonzaga +600
Michigan +800
Kentucky +1100
UCLA +1100
Duke +1400
Kansas +1400
Texas +1400
Villanova +1400#NCAAB #NCAA #CollegeSports #Sportsbetting

— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) August 3, 2021

For those curious, Louisville sits at +3300 while defending champion Baylor is at +1800. My personal favorite, however, is the fact that Drake (the school, not the guy who airballed a 3-pointer during Big Blue Madness warmups) has the exact same odds to win the title as Florida at +6600.

But I digress.

Coming off a 9-16 season and arguably the program’s worst stretch in 100 years, fans of the Big Blue Nation are smartly tempering expectations heading into 2021-22. The goal at Kentucky is always to win a national championship year in and year out, and the upcoming team is loaded with experience and depth, but the sour taste from last season still lingers.

Had the ‘Cats managed to add Kofi Cockburn–or even if they can land Jalen Duren on Friday–the third-best odds would sound about right. Maybe Vegas knows something about Duren that we don’t? Or is the current makeup of the roster better than we might be giving them credit for? Either way, Kentucky will have a vastly improved squad compared to 2020-21 and will look to contend for a national title in the spring.

What say you? Do you agree with where the oddsmakers have Kentucky a few months out from the season-opener?