The latest Newsweek Sports Betting 📩dives into the men’s Final Four odds and best bets as the regular season winds down. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

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Tyler Everett

By Tyler Everett

Sports Betting Editor

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Newsweek Sports Betting newsletter.

Whether college hoops grabs you, personally, when the season tips off in early November, the day after the Super Bowl, or not until Selection Sunday, it’s about time to 🔒🔒🔒 in on one of the most memorable seasons in recent memory.

That’s right, Selection Sunday (March 15) is less than a month away, and exactly one month from today, the first round/round of 64 will tip off.

I wrote in our preseason breakdown back in November that the 2025-26 campaign was shaping up as “the best college basketball season in a long, long time.”

A couple of other predictions from that piece (like Donovan Dent: longshot Wooden Award candidate?, to name one) have aged like milk. Fortunately, though, this season has lived up to the hype so far.

And as of today, I would call my official preseason Final Four of Purdue, Florida, Connecticut and Louisville nothing short of defensible. At the moment, though, I’d only back one of those teams at their current odds to make it to Indianapolis.

Keep reading below to find out which one…

As our focus at Newsweek Sports Betting shifts from the gridiron to the hardwood, now is a great time to give out a few tempting Final Four futures bets and check in on the current John R. Wooden Award odds.

Final Four Best Bets: Florida Among Top 3 Value Plays

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but it’s February, and Todd Golden’s Florida Gators look like a wagon.

Actually, before I go any further, allow me to stop and explain a key caveat regarding the 3 Final Four best bets I’m going to throw out in this section.

While I’m hardly skeptical of favorites Michigan, Arizona, Duke or Houston — all of whom are currently +150 or shorter (at most books) to make this year’s Final Four — any team with odds that short is a hard pass for me right now.

No, I do not expect another 1-seeds-only Final Four after Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston bullied their way through a historically chalky bracket last spring.

Am I going out on a limb by requiring a team to be +200 or longer to constitute a “best bet”? No, not exactly, but it was a note worth making.

Also, this is probably a good place to reiterate that for right now, we’re focusing on odds to reach the Final Four, not win it all. There will be plenty of time in March for Final Four picks and more March Madness analysis, but right now, these are my three favorite Final Four value plays/best bets.

Florida (best odds: +270 at bet365)

Now, back to the fun/interesting (profitable ??) stuff: can anyone keep Rueben Chinyelu and Co. off the glass?

A year ago, Florida’s loaded frontcourt was a massive reason why I bet on them to win the SEC Tournament, then the national title.

Chinyelu, likely first-round draft pick Thomas Haugh and 7-foot Aussie Alex Condon are all even more effective now than they were a year ago, when they were overshadowed by Walter Clayton Jr.’s incredible shotmaking.

It would be an understatement to say that this year’s top guards, Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland, haven’t consistently offered the firepower that Clayton and Co. brought to the table in 2025. Collectively, though, this team has more than enough talent, depth and experience to return to the Final Four.

And if the Gators bulldoze their way to another SEC Tournament title, their odds in this market are going to be a lot shorter than +270 by Selection Sunday, even if their six (or more) losses prevent them from securing a 1- or 2-seed.

Illinois (best odds: +275 at bet365)

The case for Illinois at +275 starts with a quick bit of line-shopping. The Illini are +250 or shorter at most sportsbooks, including +210 at FanDuel.

That is hardly the only reason to love coach Brad Underwood’s team, though.

Illinois is among a short list of teams in the country with five players who average at least 10 points per game, and eight players in Underwood’s rotation average at least 17 minutes per game.

Red-hot freshman Keaton Wagler has been the headliner, especially in recent weeks, but big men David Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ben Humrichous have a ton to do with all the hype Illinois has generated.

Those four have helped Illinois snatch 39 percent of its missed shots, good for the fourth-highest offensive rebound rate in the nation.

Throw in the fact that this squad’s top eight players in terms of minutes played are all willing 3-point shooters (everyone averages at least 2.8 3PA per game), and you’re looking at a buzzsaw with national championship upside.

It also helps Illinois’ case that it took on Texas Tech, Alabama, UConn and Tennessee in nonconference play.

The Fighting Illini split those four contests, but between those matchups and their tough schedule in the Big Ten, few squads will be more battle-tested entering March.

Gonzaga (best odds: +1000 at DraftKings)

After dominating college hoops from 2017-22 — the Bulldogs were a 1-seed four times, and they finished the 2020 season ranked No. 2 overall after the NCAAT was canceled due to the pandemic — Gonzaga entered the 2023, 2024 and 2025 tournaments as a 3-seed, a 5-seed and an 8-seed, respectively.

This year’s team, anchored by dominant big man Graham Ike (19.9 ppg; 8.6 rpg), is a solid bet to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2021, especially at these odds.

In fact, I’m high enough on Ike and freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery that I can’t resist Gonzaga, even if we assume it will not get Braden Huff back in time for a postseason run.

If Huff (knee) returns to action for March Madness, which coach Mark Few has not ruled out, Gonzaga will be a nightmare matchup — and/or a squad you’ll be glad you invested in at 10-to-1.

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2026 Men's Wooden Award Odds, Best Bets: Boozer Leading Pack

Unfortunately, when the favorite’s odds are shorter than -3000 across the board, there’s not a ton to say about that market.

DraftKings, FanDuel and bet365 all list Duke star Cameron Boozer at -3000 or shorter to win the 2025-26 John R. Wooden Award.

So, barring something miraculous, a Duke freshman is going to win the Wooden Award for the second year in a row.

While it’s notable that oddsmakers differ on Boozer’s odds right now, they’re in agreement that he’s a virtual lock.

Boozer, who was among the favorites to win this award before the season tipped off, has been a machine, with 22.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game for the 24-2 Blue Devils.

He has scored at least 17 points in all 14 of his team’s ACC games while also pulling down at least 10 rebounds in eight of 14 conference games.

BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson, Houston's Kingston Flemings and Purdue's Braden Smith have all been outstanding in their own right for Final Four contenders, but Boozer’s consistency makes him a slam-dunk for this award.

You might be asking, “What if Duke and/or Boozer play terribly in the NCAA Tournament??”

It’s a fair question — and it’s one I admittedly wasn’t able to answer with certainty until I sat down to write this.

But given that Zach Edey won this award in 2023 despite Purdue losing in the first round of the Big Dance, this should be thought of as a regular-season award (even though woodenaward.com’s fine print claims that postseason play is taken into consideration).

In case I haven’t written enough at this point about a foregone conclusion, below, for the record, is how the official website for this award says that it is determined:

“Voters, over 1,000 basketball media experts, evaluate players based on their performance throughout the entire season, including the NCAA Tournament.”

Unfortunately, the battle for the Women’s John R. Wooden Award is also far from wide-open: UConn star Sarah Strong is currently -1100 at both DK and bet365.

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