Gonzaga remains solid favorite to win NCAA Tournament title

SAN FRANCISCO – After the first week of the three-week NCAA Tournament, Gonzaga continues to be regarded as the favorite to win the national championship.

It’s been that way since the start of the season when Gonzaga was the favorite at 9/2 on opening night in November, according to BetOnline. The top-ranked Zags, who take on fourth-seeded Arkansas on Thursday at Chase Center, are currently 9/4 favorites.

Gonzaga is followed by Arizona, led by former GU assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, and Kansas at 5/1. The Wildcats and Jayhawks are No. 1 seeds. Houston, which faces Arizona in the Sweet 16, is 8/1, Purdue 9/1 and Texas Tech 12/1,

Duke, which faces Texas Tech in Thursday’s second game at Chase Center, UCLA and Villanova are at 14/1.

Arkansas is 40/1. Fifteenth-seeded Saint Peter’s is 150/1.

Gonzaga is favored at 4/7 to win the West Region, followed by Texas Tech at 7/2, Duke at 9/2 and Arkansas at 10/1. Purdue is favored in the East (6/5), Kansas in the Midwest (1/2) and Arizona in the South (8/5).

The Zags (28-3) were 4/1 favorites to win the championship after Selection Sunday, followed by Kentucky (6/1), Arizona (7/1), Baylor and Duke (11/1) and Kansas 14/1. Kentucky was eliminated by Saint Peter’s in the first round and North Carolina knocked off Baylor in overtime in the round of 32.

Gonzaga junior forward Drew Timme, who scored 57 points in wins over Georgia State and Memphis, is the favorite to win the tournament’s most outstanding player at 7/2 with Chet Holmgren third at 9/1.

Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin is second at 8/1. Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji is fourth at 10/1, Purdue’s Jaden Ivey is fifth at 14/1 and GU senior guard Andrew Nembhard sixth at 16/1.