Odds to Win 2022 NCAA Title: Cal a Mere 2,000-to-1 Shot

It seems that a $10 bet on Cal now could earn you $20,000 if the Bears were to win the men’s NCAA tournament next year. You still have to wonder whether that is money well spent.

One day after Baylor defeated Gonzaga for the 2021 national title a number of sites posted the odds of teams winning the 2022 national championship.

Placing those odds is an uncertain proposition since so little is known about what teams’ rosters will look like by next fall.

You can generally guess which players are likely to turn pro, but what about a player like UCLA’s Johnny Juzang? He might have transformed himself from virtual non-entity into a first-round NBA draft pick with his showing in the NCAA tournament, especially against Gonzaga. Will he come back?

And what about UCLA’s Chris Smith? He was the Bruins’ best player until a knee injury ended his season. He could come back in 2021-22, but will he? Smith, like all seniors, could return next season because this season did not count against players' college eligibility. But which ones will return, and which freshmen will have a big impact?

In theory, the Bruins could have everyone back next season, but will they?

And what about the tons of names in the transfer portal? Where will they end up? USC was picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12 this season because it lost so many starters from the previous season, but the Trojans reached the Elite Eight with a team made up primarily of transfers.

Not surprisingly Gonzaga is the favorite to win the national championship next year by virtually all betting sites, with Baylor close behind. Gonzaga reportedly has an excellent chance to sign the nation's No. 1 high school prospect -- 7-footer Chet Holmgren.

But UCLA is tied for the second choice in the odds posted by BetOnline,ag and is near the top in the other three sites we cited in this story.

Cal, which finished last in the Pac-12 this past season before beating Stanford in the conference tournament, is listed in only two of the sites we cited. The Bears are 300-to-1 to win it all, according to the BetOneline.ag site, but they are 2,000-to-1 shots to win the national title in the William Hill Sportsbook odds noted in a CBS Sports story.

(Tomorrow, the way-too-early top 25 rankings for 2021-22)

Take a look at the overall odds as well as the odds for Pac-12 teams in the four lists below

BetOnline.ag

2022 NCAA Tournament Odds to Win

Gonzaga 9/1

Baylor 12/1

UCLA 12/1

Florida State 14/1

Michigan 14/1

Ohio State 14/1

Villanova 14/1

Alabama 16/1

Duke 16/1

Purdue 16/1

Kansas 18/1

Kentucky 18/1

Arkansas 20/1

Houston 22/1

Illinois 22/1

Maryland 22/1

Michigan State 22/1

North Carolina 25/1

Texas Tech 25/1

Louisville 28/1

Syracuse 28/1

USC 28/1

Virginia 28/1

Virginia Tech 28/1

Pac-12 schools odds:

UCLA 12/1

USC 28/1

Oregon 33/1

Arizona 40/1

Oregon State 66/1

Stanford 66/1

Colorado 80/1

Arizona State 100/1

Utah 150/1

California 300/1

Washington 300/1

(Washington State not listed)

William Hill Sportsbook via CBS Sports

Odds to win 2022 national title

Gonzaga 7/1

Baylor 8.5/1

Michigan 12/1

Duke 15/1

UCLA 16/1

Kansas 18/1

Florida State 18/1

Kentucky 18/1

Ohio State 20/1

Illinois 20/1

Villanova 20/1

Houston 20/1

Alabama 25/1

North Carolina 28/1

Arkansas 28/1

Texas 30/1

Michigan State 30/1

Virginia 30/1

Pac-12 schools odds

UCLA 16/1

USC 50/1

Arizona 50/1

Oregon 60/1

Colorado 100/1

Oregon State 150/1

Stanford 150/1

Arizona State 300/1

Utah 500/1

Washington State 1,000/1

Washington 1,000/1

Cal 2,000/1

(Cal has the same odds as Wright State and Furman, among many others)

Draft Kings

Odds to win 2022 national title

Gonzaga 9/1

Baylor 12/1

Florida State 12/1

Michigan 12/1

Ohio State 14/1

Villanova 14/1

Kansas 18/1

UCLA 20/1

Duke 20/1

Houston 20/1

Illinois 20/1

Kentucky 20/1

Louisville 20/1

Texas Tech 20/1

Virginia 20/1

Virginia Tech 20/1

West Virginia 20/1

Pac-12 schools' odds:

UCLA 20/1

USC 25/1

Oregon 30/1

Oregon State 40/1

Arizona 50/1

Stanford 50/1

Colorado 80/1

Arizona State 100/1

Utah 200/1

Washington 300/1

(Cal and Washington State are not listed, but Morehead State, Loyola Marymount, Drexel, Grand Canyon and Howard are among the schools that are listed.)

Sports Betting Dime

Odds to win 2022 NCAA tournament

Gonzaga 9/1

Baylor 12/1

Florida State 12/1

Michigan 12/1

Ohio State 14/1

Villanova 14/1

Kansas 18/1

UCLA 20/1

Duke 20/1

Houston 20/1

Illinois 20/1

Kentucky 20/1

Louisville 20/1

Texas Tech 20/1

Virginia 20/1

Virginia Tech 20/1

West Virginia 20/1

Pac-12 schools odds

UCLA 20/1

USC 25/1

Oregon 30/1

Oregon State 40/1

(Only 39 schools were listed and only four Pac-12 schools made the list)

Cover photo of Johnny Juzang against Gonzaga is by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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