Tag: Creighton Bluejays

2025 NCAA basketball championship odds: Who is favored? Will UConn 3-peat?

Looking at the 2025 NCAA basketball championship odds as the 2023-24 season just wrapped up.

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It’s never too soon to think about next season.

While the UConn Huskies were finishing off the Purdue Boilermakers Monday in Glendale, Ariz, other programs — and players — have already set their focus on what it will take to get to the 2025 National Championship Game in San Antonio’s Alamodome next April 7.

Numerous players have entered the transfer portal, from FAU G Johnell Davis to Arizona C Oumar Ballo. Davis reportedly will test the waters and enter the NBA Draft.

Florida G Walter Clayton Jr., LSU G Jalen Cook and even USC G Bronny James are among a group who have declared or reportedly will declare for the upcoming draft.

Coaches are on the move, too. Sources have John Calipari leaving Kentucky for SEC rival Arkansas. He would replace Eric Musselman, who is headed to USC … which lost Andy Enfield to SMU.

So, who will win the championship next season?

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2025 NCAA basketball championship odds

Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday, April 8, at 11:56 p.m. ET.

THE FAVORITES

  • Duke Blue Devils +1100 (bet $100 to win $1,100)
  • Kansas Jayhawks +1200
  • Alabama Crimson Tide +1500
  • Houston Cougars +1500
  • North Carolina Tar Heels +1500
  • UConn Huskies +1800

THE CONTENDERS

  • Arizona Wildcats +2000
  • Kentucky Wildcats +2000
  • Baylor Bears +3000
  • Gonzaga Bulldogs +3000
  • Purdue Boilermakers +3000
  • Tennessee Volunteers +3600
  • Texas Longhorns +3600

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YOU NEVER KNOW

  • Arkansas Razorbacks +4000
  • Auburn Tigers +4000
  • BYU Cougars +4000
  • Illinois Fighting Illini +4000
  • Iowa State Cyclones +4000
  • Creighton Bluejays +4500
  • Marquette Golden Eagles +4500

NOTEWORTHY ???

  • Michigan Wolverines +5000
  • Miami Hurricanes +5000
  • Florida Gators +5500
  • Michigan State Spartans +5500
  • Ohio State Buckeyes +5500
  • St. John’s Red Storm +5500
  • UCLA Bruins +5500
  • Villanova Wildcats +5500
  • Wisconsin Badgers +5500

+6000

San Diego State Aztecs | USC Trojans

+8000

Indiana Hoosiers | Kansas State Wildcats

Louisville Cardinals | Virginia Cavaliers

Washington Huskies

+10000

Iowa Hawkeyes |  Oklahoma Sooners

Oregon Ducks |  Syracuse Orange

+15000

Colorado Buffaloes | NC State Wolfpack

Northwestern Wildcats | Notre Dame Fighting Irish

+25000

Arizona State Sun Devils

+30000

FAU Owls | Stanford Cardinal

Stream select live college basketball games and full replays: Get ESPN+

LONGEST SHOTS (+50000 each)

McNeese Cowboys |  Oakland Golden Grizzlies

Oregon State Beavers | UC Irvine Anteaters

Vermont Catamounts | Yale Bulldogs

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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

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College Sports Wire: Men’s hoops / Women’s hoops / High School

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Photo Gallery: Creighton outlasts Oregon in double overtime classic

Photo Gallery: Jermaine Couisnard goes for 32 and N’Faly Dante adds 28 points and 20 boards, but it’s not enough to defeat Creighton.

No one can say Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante didn’t give it their all.

In the last game of the season, Oregon fought Creighton for 50 minutes but ultimately ran out of gas and fell 86-73. Couisnard went for 32 points and Dante scored 28 as well as 20 rebounds. Unfortunately, that was the vast majority of the Ducks’ output. Those two scored 60 of the 73 points.

Oregon was right there the entire way and even had a shot at the end of regulation to win it. Couisnard’s long three from the left wing at the end of the first overtime kept the game going. With a short bench and Jackson Shelstad suffering a knee injury, the Ducks didn’t have a chance when the second overtime rolled around.

But just the Ducks being in this position was a minor miracle. They were NIT-bound for the third straight season. It was only a magical run through the Pac-12 tournament that put Oregon in the Big Dance.

They’ll miss Couisnard and Dante, but with some returners such as Nate Bittle, Shelstad and Kwame Evans, Jr. the Ducks should field a really good team in their first foray into the Big Ten Conference.

NCAA Tournament: Betting line drops slightly in favor of Ducks vs. Creighton

The Oregon Ducks are still underdogs against the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament, though the line dropped slightly.

The Oregon Ducks are going to be underdogs entering the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the Creighton Bluejays, but as we get closer to tip-off, the betting line is moving in their favor.

Once the matchup was set on Thursday afternoon, the betting line opened up at 5.5 points in favor of the 3-seed Bluejays, but it has since dropped a point in favor of the 11-seed Ducks, who are now a 4.5-point underdog, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

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While Oregon rode a 40-point game from Jermaine Couisnard in the opening game against the South Carolina Gamecocks earlier in the week, there will need to be a stellar performance from N’Faly Dante in this one if the Ducks want to advance to the Sweet 16. Dante will be matched up with Creighton’s center Ryan Kalkbrenner, one of the better big men in the nation.

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Though the Ducks aren’t favored to win, I don’t think anyone who has watched Dana Altman’s squad play over the last few weeks would be surprised to see them keep this magical run alive and live for another week.

Tip is set for 6:40 p.m. PT, on TBS.

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‘I still love that school;’ Oregon’s Dana Altman prepares for bittersweet battle vs. Creighton

Oregon Ducks coach Dana Altman knows Saturday’s NCAA Tournament matchup will be bittersweet against his former Creighton Bluejays.

The 11-seed Oregon Ducks surprised some people on Thursday afternoon when they rode a 40-point game from guard Jermaine Couisnard to “upset” 6-seed South Carolina, 87-73 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Those who follow the Ducks closely know this wasn’t really an upset, though. For starters, Oregon was favored by 2.5 points to win the game, and on top of that, head coach Dana Altman entered the game with a 7-0 record in the first round of the March Madness tournament.

If you know Altman, you had a pretty good sense that the Ducks would win on Thursday. Of course, if you know Altman, then you also know how meaningful this upcoming round of 32 game will be for the long-time coach.

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Oregon will tip off against the 3-seed Creighton Bluejays on Saturday night at 6:40 p.m. PT. This matchup will pit the Oregon coach of 14 years up against his old team, where Altman spent 16 years coaching before he came to Eugene.

It’s not just an entertaining storyline that has been drummed up over the past week, but something that holds real meaning for Altman, the winningest coach in both Oregon and Creighton history.

“Oh, you know, you spend 16 years at a place…” Altman trailed off on Thursday after being asked about the matchup on Saturday. “I’ve got great feelings about Creighton. As I said yesterday, you can leave a place, but that doesn’t mean you still don’t love the place.”

Altman coached in Omaha from 1995-2010, where he took Creighton to a total of seven NCAA Tournaments, having won six Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles, and three conference championships. Currently, Altman is the winningest coach in Creighton men’s basketball history, though he could lose that title this month if the Bluejays are to make a deep tournament run. Greg McDermott is only three wins off of his pace.

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Seeing a new name on top of that list is likely something that would please Altman, though.

“I’m so happy for Greg and Creighton and all their fans and the people that I know there,” Altman said. “Greg’s done a tremendous job. They’ve got a tremendous program. I’m so happy for him.”

On the court, Saturday’s matchup is going to be grueling for both teams. The Bluejays are currently favored, and many have them as a real contender to make a deep run and potentially get into the Final Four later this month. However, anyone who has watched the Ducks over the past few weeks, and saw their game against South Carolina in the first round knows that Altman’s team is far from an easy out.

“It’s bittersweet because only one of us is going to move on. But we’ll battle our tails off,” Altman said. “We’re going to have to play as good as we’ve ever played to get ’em. We’re going to have to be so sharp defensively, on the boards. We’re going to have to shoot it good again.”

If the Ducks find a way to pull off the upset, Altman will continue this magical run in 2024 and strengthen his already robust legacy as one of the best coaches in the history of the sport.

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If Oregon loses, at least the 65-year-old coach can take pride in watching one of his favorite teams battle on into the second weekend of March Madness.

“I’ve had 14 great years at Oregon, and I love this place,” Altman said. “And when I’m done, I’ll feel the same way about Oregon as I do about Creighton.

“Oregon is 1, but I think Creighton is 1A. There’s not much separation. I still love the school.”

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March Madness: Where is Creighton located?

Hint: It’s one of the largest cities in the midwest, even if you might know it more for college baseball.

When the Big East added the Creighton Bluejays to its ranks, it wasn’t just adding a private school basketball powerhouse without an FBS football program to a cadre of like-minded schools. It was also adding a notable media market outside the conference’s existing footprint.

That’s because Creighton is located just outside of downtown Omaha, delivering that vital Nebraska/Iowa television market — and, sure, delivering eight men’s NCAA tournament appearances, a pair of Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight finish since joining the Big East in 2013.

That’s a solid showing for the most notable Division I program in the city of nearly 500,000.

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UConn’s Dan Hurley seemingly threatened to knock out a fan after massive loss to Creighton

If true, this was not Dan Hurley’s most shining moment.

The UConn men’s basketball team is no longer ranked No. 1, and head coach Dan Hurley had a very rough night. Newly released footage of Hurley walking off the court following a stunning loss to Creighton shows him exchanging heated words with a fan. Lip-readers think he was saying he would “knock the fan out.”

On Tuesday, the Creighton Bluejays took down the UConn men’s basketball team, and it wasn’t even close. The Bluejays were up 14 at the half and shot over 50 percent from 3-point range, making it hard for UConn to recover. The Huskies’ 14-game winning streak went POOF, and their road record against ranked opponents dropped to 0-21 all-time.

The win was so huge that fans were seemingly shouting colorful phrases at Uconn head coach Dan Hurley mid-game (Warning: NSFW language). To add salt to an already festering wound, as Hurley was leaving the court following the loss, footage captured by people in the building shows him having a heated exchange with a fan in the crowd.

Lip-readers think he told the fan, “I will knock you out.”

Update: Dan Hurley tweeted out a Game of Thrones meme possibly referencing his behavior during Tuesday night’s matchup and UConn’s head-scratching loss.

Five takeaways from Iowa basketball’s loss at No. 7 Creighton

Ben Krikke is as advertised. Tony Perkins finds his best game. Five takeaways from Iowa’s 92-84 loss at No. 7 Creighton.

The Iowa Hawkeyes hit the road for the first time this season, showing well for themselves inside the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb.

While No. 7 Creighton (3-0) came away with a 92-84 win over Iowa (2-1), Hawkeye fans felt largely encouraged by what they saw against the Bluejays.

Four different Hawkeyes finished in double figures and Iowa looked in the first half like maybe they were on their way to delivering an early-season stunner.

Instead, Creighton flexed its muscles with a big run to start the second half as is expected from a great team at home. Still, Iowa had one final flurry to make things interesting late.

“We did some really good things tonight. We did some things that have to be corrected. But I am not going to focus on any one particular thing that makes me angry or makes me happy. I wanted to get ten guys playing time and was able to do that. The young guys were able to get some quality minutes and execute,” Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said afterwards.

All in all, it was a nice showing from an Iowa team that was picked to finish ninth in the preseason Big Ten media basketball poll.

Let’s dive into five takeaways from the 92-84 loss at No. 7 Creighton.

Social media reacts to Iowa’s encouraging loss at No. 7 Creighton

Facing their first big test of the season, Iowa held up well at No. 7 Creighton. Social media reacted as the Hawkeyes fell, 92-84.

Facing its first big test of the 2023-24 season, the Iowa Hawkeyes represented themselves well.

Iowa fell at No. 7 Creighton, 92-84, but the Hawkeyes showed a number of encouraging signs in the setback. Iowa graduate transfer forward Ben Krikke was fabulous, scoring a game-high 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting.

Behind Krikke and junior forward Payton Sandfort’s strong play, the Hawkeyes built a 22-15 lead in the first half. After a number of first-half lead changes, the contest went to the break even at 43.

Playing inside their home arena, the Bluejays responded like an Elite Eight team from the season before should: Creighton came out roaring to start the second half. The Bluejays began the second half on an extended 37-20 scoring run. Creighton senior guard Francisco Farabello canned a 3-pointer to give the Bluejays their largest lead of the night, 80-63. It electrified the CHI Health Center crowd in Omaha, Nebraska.

But, Iowa didn’t blink. The Hawkeyes fought back and whittled the Creighton lead to just five points, 89-84, with 1:26 remaining after redshirt senior forward Patrick McCaffery got loose and slipped to the basket for a slam.

Iowa couldn’t come away with the final stops and buckets it needed to either win it in regulation or take the contest into overtime. It looked like Sandfort was fouled on a late 3-point try, but that wasn’t whistled in Iowa’s favor either.

Playing with house money on the road against an elite team in Creighton, the performance left Iowa fans feeling good about this team’s potential prospects. Take a look at how social media responded to an encouraging road performance from the Hawkeyes.

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Creighton Bluejays: TV, streaming, broadcast info for Tuesday

Iowa’s first serious test of the season arrives tonight! Here’s how fans can watch, stream and listen to Iowa at No. 7 Creighton.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have shown some good things thus far this season.

Led by terrific starts to the season from junior forward Payton Sandfort and redshirt senior forward Patrick McCaffery, Iowa (2-0) has begun with convincing wins over North Dakota, 110-68, and Alabama State, 98-67.

Sandfort scored 21 and 17 points against the Fighting Hawks, while McCaffery dropped 11 and 22. Three other Hawkeyes—graduate forward Ben Krikke, senior guard Tony Perkins and freshman forward Owen Freeman—are also averaging double-figure scoring through the season’s first two contests.

It all ratchets up tonight, though. As part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games, Iowa travels to Omaha, Neb., to take on No. 7 Creighton for the first time since 1999. The Bluejays advanced to the Elite Eight last season and are off to a 2-0 start themselves after a 105-54 win over Florida A&M and an 89-60 victory over North Dakota State.

It’s an opportunity for Iowa to showcase to the rest of the country that they are a player nationally and a factor in the Big Ten race. Here’s how fans can watch, stream and listen to tonight’s big contest at Creighton.

Pair of Iowa basketball tipoff times, networks released

Iowa’s tipoff times and broadcast networks for their dates against Creighton and Iowa State were released.

As the calendar gets set to roll into October, that means that basketball season is just about back in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes will get underway with an Oct. 30 exhibition date versus Quincy from inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Now, as the season rapidly approaches, tipoff times and television networks for this upcoming 2023-24 season are trickling out. Iowa’s Nov. 14 date at Creighton in the Gavitt Games will tip off at 9 p.m. CT and air on FS1.

The Bluejays finished last season with a 24-13 (14-6 Big East) record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight before bowing out in a thriller against eventual national-runner up San Diego State.

The Hawkeyes’ annual rivalry date has its tipoff time and broadcast network as well. The Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup at Iowa State on Dec. 7 will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and is set to be televised on ESPNU.

Iowa finished the 2022-23 season with a 19-14 (11-9 Big Ten) mark. In the process, the Hawkeyes became one of just 10 teams in the country to make each of the past four NCAA Tournaments. Iowa joins fellow Big Ten mates Michigan State and Purdue in that distinction.

The Hawkeyes are replacing first-round NBA draft pick Kris Murray, who averaged 20.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last season. The 6-foot-8 forward was a consensus third-team All-American as he led Iowa in both scoring and rebounding.

Iowa’s No. 2 scorer and rebounder, Filip Rebraca, has moved on to the professional ranks as well. Rebraca averaged 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa is also replacing starting point guard Ahron Ulis and starting forward Connor McCaffery. McCaffery and Ulis combined to average 12.6 points, 5.8 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

Iowa is counting upon the trio of guard Tony Perkins and forwards Payton Sandfort and Patrick McCaffery to elevate their games. Perkins averaged 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game a season ago. The Indianapolis native figures to take up the starring mantle for this year’s Hawkeye team.

Meanwhile, Sandfort averaged 10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game last season, and McCaffery averaged 9.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

The Hawkeyes added a pair of transfers along their frontline that should provide immediate help inside. Ben Krikke comes over from Valparaiso where the 6-foot-9, 220 pound big led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game.

Iowa also brought in Even Brauns from Belmont. Brauns, a 6-foot-9, 240 pound center, averaged 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game in 21.2 minutes of average floor time last year with the Bruins. He shot 58.3% from the floor.

The Hawkeyes will also look for leaps from sophomore guards Dasonte Bowen and Josh Dix. Iowa also signed four freshmen, guard Brock Harding, forward Ladji Dembele, forward Pryce Sandfort and forward Owen Freeman.

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