Watching Ohio State get upset on a national stage on New Year’s Eve reminded me to keep an eye on the best current college basketball future values nationwide. Betters who had a futures ticket on any team other than the Buckeyes felt pretty good waking up on New Year’s Day with the odds-on favorite having gone down the night before. It might not solve that hang-over, but that ticket likely shot up 15-25% in value.

BY MATTY D.

For example, I had a ticket for Oregon to win a national football title at 8-1 before the night began. After the Miami Hurricanes beat the odds-on favorite for a national title, the Ohio State Buckeyes, that same ticket became 6-1 (theoretically increasing in value 25%).

Best College Basketball Future Values to Start the New Year

Across college basketball, this is a time of year when many important trends and storylines are overlooked. Between the NFL season reaching a peak, the holidays, and the college football championships coming into focus, some great bargains are live on Sportsbooks.

For example, the return of Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance and solid play of another injured returner, Jailand Lowe, has not yet corrected Kentucky’s odds to consider them a favorite. The Wildcats are still listed today as 9-1 odds to even reach a Final Four on FanDuel SportBook.

Looking for even longer odds chances to snag a crazy underdog pick for March Madness 2026?
Click here to see more of my favorite futures values and underdogs for a NCAAB Championship.

Odds for Big 10 Teams to Win a Title Still Show Long-shot Potential

Despite having the odds-on favorite to win the national title at this point, Michigan, The Big 10 surprisingly has a lot of upside value for teams that are at least 15-1 to reach the Final Four itself.

Iowa sits around 25-1 to reach a Final Four as 2026 begins.

Meantime, Nebraska remains around 20-1 to reach a Final Four. These generous odds are given, despite the fact that the Cornhuskers haven’t lost a game in 2025 during its fall or early winter stretch of games.

People who are actually investing in physical tickets for national championships should hold off on this idea for now, but consider a Big 10 Conference championship bundled future. You can bet on a particular conference to win a championship. The odds for the Big 10 are going to be skewed towards Michigan, who by itself is a 4-1 favorite to win a title. However, if the Wolverines were to lose, the Big 10 Conference might suddenly become a bargain, loaded with low-cost but realistic teams to make a surprise Final 4 run.