College Basketball March Madness: Who Will Win the NCAA Championship?

Not many expected Alabama to be worthy of competing for a national championship in college basketball this season, but the Crimson Tide have emerged as one of the best bets you could make before March. They have been dominating the college basketball regular season, and 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 Alabama Crimson Tide a 5.6% 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

NCAAB TEAM	PROBABILITY
Houston Cougars	8.6%
Purdue Boilermakers	6.2%
Alabama Crimson Tide	5.6%
Tennessee Volunteers	5.5%
Kansas Jayhawks	5.0%
Arizona Wildcats	4.5%
UCLA Bruins	4.0%
Baylor Bears	2.9%
Virginia Cavaliers	2.6%
Connecticut Huskies	2.6%

Why the Alabama Crimson Tide can win the College Basketball National Championship

It's rare to see a team as balanced as Alabama in college basketball. One of the most critical elements to making a deep run in March as having both an offense and a defense that can hold up for six consecutive games. Alabama is one of only two teams in the sport (along with title favorite Houston) that is ranked in the Top 12 on Kenpom in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Speaking of Houston, who has risen all the way up to #1 in the country in the AP Poll, Alabama is the only team to beat them. The Crimson Tide went on the road to a hostile Houston arena and won 71-65, serving the Cougars their only loss through the first 19 games.

Head coach Nate Oats has become infamous for his offensive playing style - the Crimson Tide play fast and shoot a ton of threes, which lends itself well to this roster. The Tide play the 3rd fastest tempo nationally, and shoot 46.9% of their shot attempts from beyond the arc.

Playing such a style often lends itself to some losses on cold shooting nights. But that hasn't been the case with this year's Bama team, and the biggest reason why is their defense. The Tide defense is ranked 6th nationally, and with a mix of experience and high-level athletes, Oats seems to have cracked the code.

What makes this even more impressive for Alabama is that they rely on plenty of newcomers, both in youth and transfers. The top four scorers on the roster are all playing their first year in Tuscaloosa. Freshman superstar Brandon Miller looks like a top 5 pick in next year's NBA Draft, and can score at all three levels. But he's not alone.

Joining him in the star-studded freshman class is Noah Clowney and Jaden Bradley. Clowney is a positionally versatile frontcourt star, whose effort and physicality is felt every time he steps on the floor. Bradley was one of the highest-rated guard prospects in last year's recruiting class, and with all the talent around him, Bradley has been a fantastic floor general.

Bradley's backcourt mate, Mark Sears, transferred to Alabama after two years in the MAC for Ohio. Sears is a fearless shotmaker, and alongside Bradley's playmaking and Miller's scoring, Sears can pick his spots and hunt timely clutch shots.

Normally you'd expect a team with this many new faces to struggle out of the gates, but Oats has done a phenomenal job turning talent into wins through the midway point of the season. If their growth is anything like most freshmen classes historically in college basketball, we haven't seen the best of Alabama just yet.

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

The story of this entire season is that there is no elite team. Many years in college basketball we see one or two teams at the top that fight for the #1 overall seed and separate themselves as clear favorites. That hasn't been the case this year.

Our CBB Futures model is a great example of this - no team has higher than a 8.6% probability to win it all, with 11 teams possessing between a 2% and 6% chance to cut down the nets. Alabama is the third-most probable team at 5.6%, but their +1400 odds (FanDuel) are in line with teams below them in terms of probability, like Purdue and Tennessee.

According to BartTorvik, since January 1st, Alabama has played the best of anyone in the country, surpassing other contenders like UCLA, Houston and Tennessee. We expect Alabama to only get better as the season goes on and their talented young players become more experienced. And that should be a scary sight for the rest of the teams in the country.

Kenpom currently projects Alabama to finish the season with a 26-5 record, winning the SEC in the process. The Crimson Tide will be favored in 12 of their final 13 games. Now may be the best time to bet on Alabama to win the national championship, as their odds are likely to only get smaller from here on out.