Purdue Basketball Among Betting Favorites to Win 2026 National Championship
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Purdue is already among the betting favorites to win college basketball's national championship in 2026. According to FanDuel, the Boilermakers have the third-best odds to cut down the nets at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis next season — the host site of the Final Four.
Over the weekend, FanDuel released odds for the 2026 national champion. Duke had the best odds at plus-1000 and Houston was second at plus-1200. Purdue, Louisville and Kansas were all tied for third at plus-1400.
A few other notable teams were also in the mix, with BYU at plus-1600, while Arkansas, Auburn, UConn and Alabama were all at plus-1800. Kentucky was listed at plus-2000.
The Boilermakers concluded the 2024-25 season with a 24-12 record and reached the Sweet 16 round of the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Purdue dropped a heartbreaker to Houston, falling 62-60 in that Sweet 16 game.
Although there really have been no official announcements, Purdue is currently expected to return the three key pieces from last year's squad: Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Additionally, the Boilers added 6-foot-11 big man Oscar Cluff from the transfer portal.
Purdue will also return freshmen guards CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris, as well as freshman forward Raleigh Burgess. Returning from injury will be 7-foot-4 freshman center Daniel Jacobsen, who only played in one full game last season.
There's a lot to like about Matt Painter's squad entering the 2025-26 college basketball season. With the Final Four in Indianapolis, the Boilers couldn't ask for a better home-court advantage, either.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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