College basketball is right around the corner, which means there’s no better time to place a (completely legal) preseason bet. Bovada updated its lines on Tuesday with some notable movement for a few darkhorse contenders while the teams you’d expect to be the favorites held steady at the top.
College basketball odds: Kentucky, Wisconsin lead a pack with some strong darkhorse options
Get your bets in before college basketball season tips off next week.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Kentucky is again the preseason favorite even if there’s no “40-0” talk around John Calipari’s team this time around. The Wildcats have enough talent in the front court to sustain three separate top-10 teams, and another powerful recruiting class should more than make up for the loss of Julius Randle and James Young.
Arizona and Wisconsin are the only other teams with odds under 10/1. The Badgers beat the Wildcats in the Elite 8 last season and return almost everyone but guard Ben Brust. Arizona loses Nick Johnson and Aaron Gordon, but the arrival of freshman Stanley Johnson and a bigger opportunity for sophomore Rondae Hollis-Jefferson should keep the Wildcats among the best teams in the country.
Gonzaga is the biggest mover from the opening odds to today. Perhaps Sports Illustrated’s story about Domantas Sabonis, son of famed Lithuanian big man Arvydas, got people excited? Sabonis will be part of what could be a great bench for Mark Few that will augment a starting lineup that has size and shooting. The prospect of three 40-percent three-point shooters around massive junior center Przemek Karnowski is an appealing one. Is this the year the ‘Zags finally advance past the Sweet 16?
SMU is the team that’s dropped the most from when the odds opened on April 28 until now. Back then, Larry Brown’s team was set to have the best freshman guard in the country in Emmanuel Mudiay and a powerful interior scorer in Markus Kennedy. Now, Mudiay is playing in China and Kennedy’s eligibility is in question. Isn’t Larry Brown too old for all of this nonsense?
Darkhorse options
San Diego State and UConn jump out as decent bets at 50/1. San Diego State brings back a long and athletic team with a great bench. They’ll miss Xavier Thames, but there’s enough talent here to spread around his offensive touches. UConn loses a ton from last year’s national champs, but the starting lineup still appears to be balanced. If freshman Daniel Hamilton or sophomore Amida Brimah step up, the Huskies are going to be very good.
As for deeper darkhorses, Nebraska at 100/1 doesn’t look bad. Colorado made our top-25 countdown and is a great value at 200/1. West Virginia at 500/1 is worth a few dollars just for Juwan Staten alone. As for DePaul at 500/1 ... nah.
Our college basketball countdown heads to the top five tomorrow. Get caught up:
| Team | Opening Odds | Current Odds |
| Kentucky | 5/1 | 7/2 |
| Arizona | 16/1 | 9/1 |
| Wisconsin | 12/1 | 9/1 |
| Duke | 9/1 | 12/1 |
| North Carolina | 16/1 | 12/1 |
| Kansas | 14/1 | 18/1 |
| Florida | 16/1 | 20/1 |
| Gonzaga | 40/1 | 25/1 |
| Iowa State | 33/1 | 25/1 |
| Louisville | 25/1 | 25/1 |
| Texas | 33/1 | 25/1 |
| Villanova | 25/1 | 28/1 |
| Wichita State | 28/1 | 28/1 |
| Michigan | 33/1 | 33/1 |
| Michigan State | 25/1 | 33/1 |
| Syracuse | 33/1 | 40/1 |
| VCU | 40/1 | 40/1 |
| Virginia | 33/1 | 40/1 |
| Ohio State | 50/1 | 50/1 |
| San Diego State | 66/1 | 50/1 |
| SMU | 33/1 | 50/1 |
| UConn | 66/1 | 50/1 |
| Iowa | 66/1 | 66/1 |
| Oklahoma | 40/1 | 66/1 |
| UCLA | 50/1 | 66/1 |
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