Gordon Hayward Predicts March Madness Winner, Believes Big 12 Is Best Conference in College Basketball

Selection Sunday is rapidly approaching, and everyone wants to know the same things:

Who is going to win March Madness?

The betting odds have the Michigan Wolverines as the current favorite, but the Duke Blue Devils, Arizona Wildcats and Florida Gators all have shorter than 10/1 odds as well with conference tournament week in full swing.

College basketball legend and former NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward is at the Big East Tournament this week and partnering with Colgate Total, and he shared his National Champion pick and some thoughts on the top teams in college basketball with Sports Illustrated, including his pick to win it all.

Hayward’s Butler Bulldogs won’t be dancing this season after struggling in the Big East, but he shared a short list of teams that he believes can cut down the nets this spring.

“The Big East was down this year, like a lot. It’s been a really good year the past five to ten years,” Hayward told Sports Illustrated. So I mean, it’s really hard to not pick St. John’s or UConn (out of the Big East). Those two seem to be a tier above everybody else. … I actually live in Charlotte still, so Duke is—a lot of people talk about Duke in Carolina. And you know, Duke is another team that’s got a big chance. [Jon] Scheyer’s a good coach.”

Hayward did touch on the fact that Duke will need even more from Wooden Award favorite Cameron Boozer with Caleb Foster sidelined indefinitely with a foot fracture. There’s a chance Foster could miss the entire NCAA Tournament, which certainly is a blow to the No. 1 team in the country.

In fact, Hayward thinks that opens things up for the Big 12 – the conference that he believes is the best in college basketball this season.

“Anybody from the Big 12, who seems like they’re the best conference in the country this year,” he said. “Arizona is really, you know, big size and solid, super solid older guards. And I think that’s important going into the tournament.”

The Wildcats currently have the third-best odds to win the National Championship at +550 at FanDuel Sportsbook. While Michigan and Duke are ahead of them in that market, there isn’t a clear-cut favorite with conference tournament week still going.

2026 National Championship Odds

Michigan: +300
Duke: +340
Arizona: +550
Florida: +600
Houston: +1200
Illinois: +2000
Connecticut: +2000
Iowa State: +2500
Purdue: +4000
Kansas: +5000
Michigan State: +5000
Gonzaga: +5000
Arkansas: +6000
St. John's: +6500
Kentucky: +10000
Louisville: +10000
Texas Tech: +10000
Tennessee: +10000
Nebraska: +10000
Vanderbilt: +10000
Alabama: +10000
Virginia: +10000

Hayward also believes that the Purdue Boilermakers (+4000) are worth a look as a title contender thanks to all the experience they have on their roster.

“You know, Purdue is interesting to me because of the experience they have with Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn and all those guys,” Hayward said. “And they’ve been to so many of these – Braden Smith has played in so many big games. And so certainly that experience will help them as well.”

The bracket for the 2026 NCAA Tournament won’t be official until Selection Sunday (March 15), but Hayward knows a thing or two about making a deep run in March Madness. After all, he nearly led Butler to one of the greatest national title runs in NCAA Tournament history, falling short on a last-second heave against Duke in the title game.

So, who is Hayward preemptively taking to cut down the nets?

“I need to do more research (before locking down a selection), but if I had to go right now, I think I’m going Arizona,” Hayward told Sports Illustrated.

It’s hard to argue with his Arizona pick, as the Wildcats are loaded up and down the roster with veteran guard Jaden Bradley and superstar freshman Brayden Burries and Koa Peat. Both freshmen have a real chance to be lottery picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.

KenPom has the Wildcats as the No. 3 team in the country, ranking them inside the top 10 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency. Arizona can control its own destiny to earn a No. 1 seed, but it has a lot of work to do in the Big 12 Tournament in the coming days.

Gordon Hayward is currently partnering with Colgate Total – the Official Oral Health Partner of the Big East Tournament.

“I’ve got five kids, and so it feels like a genuine partnership because it’s a struggle each day to try to get these guys to brush their teeth and build good habits for oral hygiene. Colgate Total makes that really easy with their whitening system, their toothpaste, their toothbrush. Like, we’re trying to prevent – I try to tell the kids, you don’t want to be like Dad here, I’ve got root canals and cavities. You’ve got to prevent that. And so that’s creating a good habit every day and brushing your teeth. It’s easy, right? It should be easy.”

For more information, visit Colgate.com and follow @colgateus on social media.

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