March Madness: Who are the Number 1 Seeds in the NCAA Tournament?

The NCAA Tournament bracket was released on Selection Sunday but there weren’t very many surprises on the Number 1 seed line. As expected, Gonzaga comes into the NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed in 2022. Meanwhile, Arizona, Baylor, and Kansas round out of the number one seeds for March Madness. In this article, we’ll break down the number 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, their odds to win March Madness, and the best March Madness betting sites.

The Best March Madness Betting Sites for NCAA Tournament 2024

Before placing your best bets on the NCAA Tournament, it’s important to shop for the best March Madness odds. The best March Madness betting websites offer sports betting bonuses, free college basketball bets, and NCAA bracket contests that make it more fun to bet on the Big Dance.

Below, we’ll give a quick summary of the best March Madness betting sites and what they have to offer for the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

1. BetOnline – $1,000 Sports Betting Bonus + 2 Free Bets for March Madness
2. XBet – $500 in Free College Basketball Bets for the NCAA Tournament
3. MyBookie – $1,000 Sportsbook Bonus to Bet on March Madness
4. BetUS – $3,125 in Free Bets for March Madness Games
5. Bovada – $750 Bitcoin Betting Bonus for the 2022 NCAA Tournament

March Madness Odds | Best Odds to Win the 2022 NCAA Tournament

While Baylor and Kansas find themselves as No. 1 seeds in March Madness, most oddsmakers believe other teams have a better chance of winning the NCAA Tournament. At BetOnline, No. 2 seeds Kentucky and Duke have lower odds to win March Madness

Below, we’ll break down the NCAA Tournament odds from BetOnline, one of the best March Madness betting websites.

NCAA Tournament Teams	Odds to Win March Madness	Play
Gonzaga	+350
Kentucky	+600
Arizona	+650
Duke	+1000
Kansas	+1200
Baylor	+1200
Auburn	+1600
Purdue	+2000
Tennessee	+2000
Villanova	+2200

*March Madness odds as of March 14, 2022

Number 1 Seeds in the NCAA Tournament

The 2022 NCAA Tournament is one of the most exciting times of the year for college basketball fans around the country. The number 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament are supposed to have the easiest road to the Final Four, but there are no guarantees. Since the NCAA Tournament moved to 64 teams in 1985, it hasn’t been as easy for the top seeds to advance. In fact, there has been just one No. 1 seed in the Final Four 15 times (41.67 percent) during that span. Number one seeds have also failed to make the Final Four altogether, which has happened twice (5.56 percent) since 1985.

Below, we’ll go over the Number 1 seeds in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and their odds to win March Madness.

Gonzaga

• Overall Record: 26-3
• AP Top-25 Rankings: 1
• KenPom Rank: 1
• Quadrant 1 Record: 10-3
• Quadrant 2 Record: 2-0
• Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament: +350

Gonzaga comes into March Madness as the No. 1 overall seed. The Bulldogs also find themselves with the best odds to win the NCAA Tournament at the top sportsbooks in the US. Led by Chet Holmgren, the likely No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, the Bulldogs finished the season with the best adjusted offensive rating in the country (121.8) and ranked seventh in the nation on the other end of the floor with an adjusted 88.8 defensive rating. The Bulldogs dropped their regular season finale against Saint Mary’s snapping a 17-game winning streak but avenged that loss with a win over the Gaels in the West Coast Conference Tournament Championship Game.

Arizona

• Overall Record: 31-3
• AP Top-25 Rankings: 
• KenPom Rank: 2
• Quadrant 1 Record: 6-3
• Quadrant 2 Record: 9-0
• Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament: +650

Arizona came into the season without high expectations following the firing of longtime coach Sean Miller. After entering the season unranked, the Wildcats earned a No. 1 seed under Tommy Lloyd in his first year in Tucson, Arizona. Lloyd is just the third coach to achieve the feat in his first year as head coach but will have his hands full during the Big Dance. While Arizona shares the ball better than any team in the country, the Wildcats’ Final Four hopes may depend on the health of freshman point guard Kerr Kriisa, who injured his ankle in the PAC-12 Tournament semifinals. Kriisa is expected to play this week but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see fellow freshman Dalen Terry handle more of the ball-handling duties during the First Round and Second Round games. Despite being one of the top teams in the PAC-12 for the last two decades, Arizona hasn’t made a Final Four since 2001. 

Baylor

• Overall Record: 26-6
• AP Top-25 Rankings: 3
• KenPom Rank: 5
• Quadrant 1 Record: 10-6
• Quadrant 2 Record: 8-1
• Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament: +1200

The reigning national champions lost four starters from last year’s squad but head coach Scott Drew worked his magic once again in 2022. Baylor finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak before getting ousted early in the Big 12 Tournament at the hands of Oklahoma. Led by upperclassmen James Akinjo, Adam Flager, and Matthew Mayer, Baylor has enough experience to make a deep run. However, the Bears also come into March Madness banged up. They lost senior big man Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua to a season-ending knee injury and leading scorer LJ Cryer is out indefinitely with a foot injury. Baylor also faces a tough road to the Final Four in a loaded East Region that features No. 2-seed Kentucky and No. 4-seed UCLA. 

Kansas

• Overall Record: 28-6
• AP Top-25 Rankings: 6
• KenPom Rank: 6
• Quadrant 1 Record: 12-5
• Quadrant 2 Record: 8-1
• Odds to Win the NCAA Tournament: +1200

Kansas cruised through the Big 12 Tournament, winning by an average of 15.3 points per game. Head coach Bill Self will enter March Madness as a number 1 seed for the ninth time and the Jayhawks come into the Big Dance riding a five-game winning streak. Kansas led the Big 12 in adjusted offensive rating and 3-point shooting percentage. It also ranked as the top effective field goal percentage defense and 3-point defense in the conference, which should make the Jayhawks a tough out in the Midwest Region. However, Kansas will also face a tough road to the Final Four in a bracket that features the likes of Auburn and Houston, two of the top-10 teams in the current KenPom rankings.