With the 2025-26 college basketball set to tip off two weeks from the time of posting, the RotoWire college hoops staff got together to narrow down our favorite futures picks for the year. Check out our college basketball betting futures page for a full list of championship, conference title and Wooden Award odds.
2025-26 College Basketball Betting Futures Picks
BYU to Win Big-12 (+450 on DraftKings)
Kevin Young moved from the NBA to taking BYU to the Sweet 16 in his first year at the helm, and now he's used one of the nation's largest NIL budgets to build an even better roster, including projected No. 1 overall NBA pick A.J. Dybantsa. The 6-9 forward may be a little raw, but he gets help from leading returning scorer Richie Saunders (16.5 ppg), center Keba Keita (7.9 rpg) and sixth year senior Dawson Baker. Young also worked the portal to bring in Baylor transfer Rob Wright – who would have been a first-round pick had he declared – to run the offense, as well as three-point sharpshooters Kennard Davis and Nate Pickens. Houston, the odds-on favorite, may be better suited for a postseason run due to its defensive capabilities, but the Cougars may need some time to find their identity after losing leading scorer LJ Cryer (15.7 ppg) and emotional leader J'Wan Roberts (10.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg). Plus, Joseph Tugler managed a foot injury for much of the offseason.
Connecticut to win the Big East (+125 on DraftKings)
Some books have Rick Pitino and St. John's atop the standings, but it would be unwise to count out Danny Hurley. His Huskies are ranked 11 spots higher on KenPom's preseason rankings and bring back their second, third and fourth-leading scorers in Solo Ball (14.4 ppg), Alex Karaban (14.3 ppg) and Tarris Reed (9.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg), respectively. Malachi Smith (10.4 ppg, 5.3 apg) comes in to run the point after four years at Dayton, and Silas Demary also projects for a starting role after putting up 13.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 3.1 apg last season with Georgia. Plus, five-star guard Braylon Mullins will have a role as well in what will be one of the top offenses in the country. St. John's will compete, but it will have to do so with an entirely new backcourt following the losses of RJ Luis (18.2 ppg), Kadary Richmond (12.4 ppg) and Deivon Smith (9.3 ppg).
-Jake Letarski (@RotoJake), College Basketball Editor
Think your team has what it takes to win it all in March Madness? Find College Basketball National Championship Odds and other college basketball futures bets across multiple sportsbooks on RotoWire.
Alabama to Reach Final Four (+650 on DraftKings)
Nate Oats has directed the most high-octane offense in college basketball for the Crimson Tide over the last seven seasons. They want to push the pace and get as many shots up as possible. While this year's team will lose an extremely dynamic guard in Mark Sears, there's a case to be made that the next man up could be even better. Labaron Philon averaged 10.6 PPG, 3.8 APG, 3.3 RPG and 1.4 SPG in just 24.6 MPG as a true freshman. He will now get the keys to this super car of an offense and is a dark horse candidate for the Wooden Award. His supporting cast in the backcourt features two other elite shooters in Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell, along with former 5-star recruit and Miami transfer Jalil Bethea. The interior has been rebuilt with transfers Taylor Bol Bowen and Noah Williamson, while sophomore Aiden Sherrell is one of the biggest breakout candidates in the SEC. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Alabama struggle a bit early on as it tries to get healthy from some nagging offseason injuries and establish chemistry, but this team is perfectly built to succeed in today's college basketball, and the Tide are going to be a scary sight for any team come March.
Florida to Win NCAA Tournament (+1500 on DraftKings)
Florida is no stranger to going back-to-back in college basketball -- just go back to the 2006-07 NCAA Tournaments where Billy Donovan led the Gators to two straight titles. While there are some pieces that will have to be replaced, the frontcourt will be basically exactly the same. Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, Thomas Haugh and Micah Handlogten are all back after being one of the most feared interior groups in recent memory. All four of them could start for pretty much any other team in the country. That depth gives coach Todd Golden such a major weapon on both ends of the court to take advantage of that no other team in college basketball can match up with.
The backcourt will be a new cast of characters, but I'm not sure you could have come up for a better replacement for Walter Clayton Jr. than Boogie Fland. The Arkansas transfer is another tough shot-maker who has tremendous feel for the game at a young age. He's the perfect player to take the keys to this offense and lead them on another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee was one of the most productive non-power conference players in the country last season and will be a nice piece to complement Fland. The rest of the wings include Ohio transfer AJ Brown, who is a terrific shooter, along with a pair of top-50 recruits in CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd. The makeup of this roster with all these elite returning players along with an influx of extremely high upside talent from the outside makes +1500 feel like a steal.
-Ryan Andrade (@Roto_Ryan), College Basketball Assistant Editor
Memphis to win the AAC (+220 on Caesars)
The AAC seems to lose value every season since its best players often get poached in the transfer portal, and most teams have to rebuild to have a shot to compete at the top of the standings. Fortunately for Memphis, Penny Hardaway's name still brings players to the team, and once again he brought in a variety of players from the portal. This season, the Tigers are built on a lot of mediocre players from bigger teams. Point guard Dug McDaniel probably saw the most time of any of them coming from Kansas State and Michigan before that. Aaron Bradshaw was supposed to be a high-end recruit, but he didn't really work for Kentucky or Ohio State. Sincere Parker, Zachary Davis and Curtis Givens also fit the bill of somewhat recognizable transfers. Even if it's a mixed bag of players, that's probably enough to win this conference, similar to last season. This Memphis team may not make the Sweet 16, but it should have the talent and depth to win another AAC title, especially if you're getting above +200 odds.
-Adam Zdroik (@RotoZdroik), RotoWire Bracketologist
Other College Basketball Resources:
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