Louisville's Opening 2022 National Championship Odds Revealed

(Photo of KFC Yum! Center Court: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

LAS VEGAS - The confetti might still trickling down from the rafters of Lucas Oil Stadium after Monday night's title game between Gonzaga and Baylor, but the folks at Bovada have already released their first round of odds to win next season's national championship. While they missed the NCAA Tournament this year, the Louisville men's basketball program has a better shot to cut the nets than one might think.

Bovada has given the Cardinals the eight-best odds to win the 2022 national championship, assigning them +2500 odds, or 25-1. They are tied with Duke, Houston, Illinois, Kentucky, Texas Tech, UCLA, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Despite losing to Baylor in last night's title game, Gonzaga opens up as the preseason favorite at +700.

Louisville opened up the 2020-21 season at 9-1, and were ranked as high as the No. 16 team in the nation. But due to COVID issues, injuries, and at times offensive inconsistencies, they went 4-6 in the second half of the season to finish at 13-7 and 8-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They missed NCAA Tournament by a razor-thin margin, being designated as the first replacement team, or 'First Team Out'.

Louisville has been deep into roster management mode since the end of the season. Sophomore forward Aidan Igiehon entered the transfer portal the day after Selection Sunday, Class of 2021 signees Bobby Pettiford and Eric Van Der Heijden were both released from their National Letter of Intent, and graduate transfer guard Charles Minlend confirmed he would not be returning for another year.

Fortunately, the Cardinals are still welcoming five newcomers next year. Wing Michael James and center Roosevelt Wheeler are signees from the high school ranks, point guard El Ellis is coming from JUCO, and forward Matt Cross & guard Jarrod West are transferring from Miami & Marshall, respectively.

The program is still awaiting decisions from both sophomore guard David Johnson and graduate transfer guard Carlik Jones on their respective futures. Both are anticipated to at least test the 2021 NBA Draft waters, but neither have made a decision yet. Senior forward/center Malik Williams already stated that he will return for a final season with Louisville

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