College Basketball March Madness: Can Purdue Win the NCAA Championship?

The #1 team in the country is obvious, and they have National Player of the Year Zach Edey, but are the Purdue Boilermakers the best bet to win the college basketball national championship in March Madness?, Our predictive analytics model, DimersBOT, likes the team's chances of winning the biggest prize in college hoops, the National Championship.

While our artificial intelligence gives the Purdue Boilermakers a 6.2% chance to win the national championship, we believe they are the best futures bet you can make in the sport. Also, make sure you constantly come back to Dimers throughout the college basketball season, as we have you covered with best bets, player props and the best sportsbook offers! The "Bet $5, Get $200 in site credit" offer from DraftKings Sportsbook is one of our favorites at the moment. 

2023 NCAA Basketball National Championship Probabilities

Why the Purdue Boilermakers can win the College Basketball National Championship

Sometimes the best bet you can make is the obvious one, and it might be time to start taking Purdue seriously as a runaway favorite to win the national championship. At 21-1, the Boilermakers are atop both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll, and advanced metrics like the Boilermakers as well.

For Purdue, it all starts with the most dominant player in college basketball - Zach Edey. Edey is the betting favorite (-1000 at DraftKings Sportsbook) to win the Wooden Award for best player in the country. At 7'4", 290 lb., there is no player in college basketball history that has been as good and as big as Edey is.

But it's not just Edey that makes Purdue special. Head coach Matt Painter has assembled a collection of highly-ranked talents that fit seamlessly and play unselfishly. Alongside Edey in the frontcourt are former top recruits Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn, who don't seem to mind letting Edey shine and playing their roles.

In the backcourt, Painter has given the keys to two true freshman - and after getting questioned in the offseason for doing so, Painter looks like a genius. Point guard Braden Smith is the straw that stirs the drink, and shooting guard Fletcher Loyer has emerged as a multi-level shotmaker with a competitive edge and a clutch gene.

When you add it all together, you get the best team in the country. Purdue will likely run away with the Big Ten conference, and while the value is there, it might be time to consider them doing the same in March.

What makes Purdue the best Futures bet to win the National Championship?

While every other "elite" team has faltered once they rose to the top, Purdue has never looked unsteady. Houston, Alabama and UConn have each taken their turn at the top of the polls this season, and almost immediately upon getting there, they lost to massive underdogs and started spiraling.

Unlike the others, Purdue has just gotten stronger. You have to go all the way back to January 2nd for the last time the Boilermakers lost a game, and they lost by only one point to a very tough Rutgers squad. They have yet to lose to a weak opponent or get blown out, unlike every other top contender in the country.

Typically the teams that make deep runs in March are teams that are elite on both sides of the ball, and Purdue is very close to being that. According to KenPom's rankings, Purdue is ranked in the top 20 in both Adjusted Offensive and Defensive Efficiency. The Boilermakers are slightly better offensively than they are on defense, but we expect that to creep closer to even by the end of the season.

At the time of writing, Purdue (+1000) is tied for the 2nd highest odds to win the National Championship, trailing Houston (+650) and alongside Alabama (+1000).  Our DimersBOT model gives Purdue a 6.2% chance of winning it all, which makes them a more valuable bet than Alabama (5.6%) at the same odds.

As Purdue has only improved their play over the course of the season, we expect that probability may continue to rise before the NCAA Tournament. The time to capitalize as a bettor may be now.