2024 Men's NCAA Tournament Championship Betting Odds: UConn vs. Purdue

It’s rare when you can confidently say the two best teams are playing in the title game. But, that’s the case for the 2024 NCAA National Championship at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Top seeds, and conference champions, the UConn Huskies (36-3) of the Big East meet the Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers (34-4) Monday at 9:20 p.m. ET in the title game. UConn opened up as -5.5 favorites over Purdue after the Final Four Saturday but has moved to -6 or -6.5 at most legal U.S. sportsbooks. 

Both teams dispatched their Final Four foes with relative ease. The Boilermakers beat the NC State Wolfpack 63-50 Saturday. Purdue big Zach Edey had a down game by his standards with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Before the Final Four, Edey was averaging 30.0 points and 16.3 rebounds in the tourney. 

Then Connecticut coasted to an 86-72 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide a couple of hours later. It was UConn's 11th straight double-digit victory and cover in the NCAA Tournament dating back to last season. The Huskies won despite the Crimson Tide hitting 47.8% of their threes (11-for-23). 

READ: UConn Rolls Alabama To Set Up Classic Big Man Duel With Purdue For National Title

The matchup to watch in the national championship is Edey vs. Connecticut 7-foot-2 sophomore C Donovan Clingan. Edey is the back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year and will probably win his 2nd consecutive Naismith Men's College Player of the Year. Clingan led the Big East in Player Efficiency Rating and Win Shares per 40 minutes. 

Purdue Boilermakers C Zach Edey shoots over NC State Wolfpack big DJ Burns Jr. in the men's Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium. (Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports)

I'm not sure how I'm going to bet this game. I've been quietly betting on UConn winning the national championship since the NCAA Tournament began. With that in mind, trying for a "middle" in the national championship would be wise. So, I'd have to take the points with Purdue and hope the Huskies won the game by 6 or fewer points. 

My problem with investing any money in the Boilermakers is the Huskies are one of the few teams that don't have to double-team Edey. Clingan is one of, if not the best, defensive bigs in the nation. Purdue is 2nd in 3-point percentage because it has 3-point shooters wide open thanks to Edey's gravitational pull. 

That said, I'm torn. Is Connecticut really going to crush every NCAA Tournament opponent in 12 straight games? UConn doesn't have any holes, but is due for a bad game, I guess? I don't know. I'm going to take the rest of the weekend to stew on it and get back in the lab Monday morning. 

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