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The UConn Huskies start the defense of their NCAA Championship trophy at the Gampel Pavilion against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Monday night. Dan Hurley’s team won their fifth championship in 24 years when they defeated San Diego State 76-59 in the Championship final last April and will be looking for a sixth title this season. Here in our latest NCAAB betting picks, we look ahead to their opening match. And we are also going to take a look at the futures market to win the competition outright in 2024.
- What; 2023/24 NCAA Men’s Basketball
- Who; UConn Huskies vs. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
- Where; Gampel Pavilion, Mansfield, Connecticut
- When; Monday, November 6th 2023
- Time; 6.30 pm ET
The Huskies have lost a lot of talent since the championship final, with the likes of Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson Jr joining the NBA. Head coach Dan Hurley is a wily old campaigner though, and he will have factored those losses into his planning this season, and it’s remarkable to see that even without two of their best players from last season, the Huskies are still regarded as potential winners again in 2024.
Talent like Donovan Clingan will now have the opportunity to step up to the plate and help fill the void. But he can’t do it on his own. The future NBA star will be hoping that Hurley can pull a few rabbits out of the proverbial hat to improve the Huskies’ chances of success in the coming season.
Betting to win the 2024 Championship
According to the best college basketball betting sites, four teams have a better chance of winning the 2024 Championship than the Huskies.
The betting favorite is the Kansas Jayhawks at +1000. The Jayhawks will be looking for a vast improvement on last season, where they went out in the second round of the postseason, losing 72-71 to Arkansas.
Following closely behind the number one ranked Kansas in the betting are Duke and Kentucky at +1200, with Purdue at +1400, completing the four betting favorites. The college basketball odds on Purdue have shortened in recent months after Zach Edey, reigning National Player of the Year, opted to return to college.
UConn and Michigan State are both next at +1600. Arizona is +2000, with Creighton and Houston both at +2200, and Arkansas at +2500.
UConn +300 to win the Big East
In the betting to win the Big East, the Huskies are third favorites at +300. This puts them behind Creighton (+240) and Marquette (+260). The best college basketball betting sites seem to be seeing the Big East as a three-horse race, as fourth favorites Villanova are out at +600.
Marquette topped the table in the 2022/23 season with a 17-3 record. Creighton was third on 14-6. The team that split this year’s two favorites, Xavier, finished with a 15-5 record. UConn ended the regular season in fourth place with a 13-7 record.
Creighton gets their season underway at home to Florida on Tuesday. Marquette takes on Northern Illinois on Monday. Villanova hosts the American Eagles, also on Monday evening.
UConn vs. Northern AZ Match Betting
Onto the match betting for UConn against Northern, and the visitors are getting a massive 24.5 points on the handicap spread. UConn has been backed into -113 with BetOnline, with Northern at -107.
On the total points spread, the marker has been set at 140.5. Both over and under is -110. At the time of writing, there were no odds offered on the money line. The betting sites don’t see this match as a contest. More betting options are available on our Basketball odds table.
| UConn vs Northern AZ Match Betting |  |  |  |
| UConn (-24.5) | -110 | -113 | -110 |
| Northern AZ (+24.5) | -110 | -107 | -110 |
| Over 140.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 140.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
Our Huskies vs. Northern AZ Betting Picks
There’s no recent competitive form to look at for our betting picks. But what we do know is that UConn is ranked number six and is one of the favorites to win the 2024 Championship.
The Lumberjacks are unfortunately not going to be competing for the Championship, and they have no AP ranking. A 24.5-point start on the handicap also tells us that the bookmakers don’t see them getting anything out of this match.
As things stand, Donovan Clingan is not a certain starter. The foot strain he suffered in practice at the end of September was supposed to keep him out of action for around one month. He has progressed, but it’s still not clear if he has progressed enough to get a starting berth for the season opener.
NEWS: UConn has announced Donovan Clingan returned to practice this week. Clingan had missed the last month with a foot strain. An update to Clingan’s status will be available prior to UConn’s season opener on Nov. 6.
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) November 2, 2023
With or without Clingan, the Huskies will win. Twelve months ago, they started their 2022/23 seasons with four 25-plus points wins in their opening five matches. So we’re going to take a punt on them being ready to fly out of the blocks again this year as well.
We are backing the Huskies to win and to cover the spread for our NCAAB betting pick. We also feel this will be a high-scoring match, so we are also backing over on the total points spread.
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