Opening Odds: 1-seed Huskies open as heavy favorites over 16-seed Stetson

UConn men’s basketball will begin their quest to repeat as national champions Friday afternoon, as the 1-seed Huskies take on 16-seed Stetson in Brooklyn. The Hatters, Atlantic Sun Tournament champions, are making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Stetson ranks 218th overall in the country according to KenPom, ranking 100th in offensive efficiency and 342nd in defensive efficiency. Head coach Donnie Jones’ Hatters played just two teams — Houston and UCF — inside of the top 100 in KenPom this season, getting smoked by Houston on the road and defeating the Golden Knights by three in Orlando.

Meanwhile, UConn is No. 1 in KenPom and tops in offensive effiency. The Huskies are 11th in defensive efficiency and haven’t lost a neutral site game since falling to Marquette in the 2023 Big East Tournament semifinal over a year ago.

With that massive disparity, the betting lines seem to agree with the KenPom rankings. DraftKings has the Huskies as 26.5-point favorites of the Hatters, and the moneyline odds for UConn is an absurd -20000. The over/under for the first-round matchup is set at 144.

If UConn advances, the Huskies will play the winner of 8-seed Florida Atlantic against 9-seed Northwestern. DraftKings has that matchup being considerably closer, with the Owls opening as just a 2-point favorite. More college basketball game lines and futures odds can be found here.

Despite a tough draw that features three of last year’s four Final Four teams and three teams in this year’s KenPom top 10, DraftKings still thinks the Huskies are the team to beat. At +400, they remain the favorite ahead of Houston (+500) and Purdue (+650).