Kentucky has second-best odds to win 2020 national championship

After the 2019 Final Four, BetOnline listed Kentucky as the favorite to win the 2020 national title at 5-1 odds.

Since that development, Kentucky has landed reclassified Johnny Juzang and brought back both EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards. However, the latest odds released by BetOnline have dropped Kentucky’s chances to 15-2.

The new favorite to win the championship is Duke, who returns Tre Jones and Javin DeLaurier and got a late-April commitment from Matthew Hurt. Adding that to the incoming class of Vernon Carey, Wendell Moore, and Cassius Stanley, the Blue Devils are in line for a special season even after losing three potential top five NBA Draft picks.

After Kentucky, both Michigan State and Virginia come in at 8-1 odds. Michigan State is the No. 1 team in the majority of preseason polls for next season, while Virginia has several key players from their 2019 national championship team.

While it should be impossible to get frustrated by preseason title odds, it is questionable that Kentucky returned everyone that was expected to come back while also adding a reclassified a top 35 recruit and somehow became less likely to win the championship.

It is also possible that John Calipari is not done with the 2019-2020 roster. Adding another player should obviously raise the Wildcats’ chances a bit, but given the recent changes it is difficult to figure out how these odds are determined.

Not that we condone betting here, but if you are interested in placing a bet on Kentucky winning the national championship, your rate of return would be higher if you placed the bet before Coach Cal potentially brings in another player, say Kerry Blackshear or N’Faly Dante.