2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final betting preview

The top-seeded UConn Huskies and No. 1 seed Purdue will square off in the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final on Monday, April 8, with UConn on a quest for back-to-back NCAA titles, and the program's sixth overall men's championship.

Tipoff of the final game of the NCAA Tournament is scheduled for 9:20 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TBS, TNT, and truTV as well as the NCAA March Madness Live app.

View live-odds for the NCAA Championship here.

Below YouBet gives you the rundown on the 2024 NCAA Tournament championship game odds between UConn and Purdue.

UConn vs. Purdue moneyline, point spread for NCAA championship

UConn is a -298 favorite to win the NCAA championship, with the point spread set at seven points as of Monday morning.

The Huskies suffered only three losses in the regular season and have won by an average margin of 25 points in the NCAA Tournament.

UConn downed No. 16 seed Stetson 91-52 in the opening round, then defeated No. 9 seed Northwestern 75-58 before knocking off fifth-seeded San Diego State 82-52. In the regional final, the Huskies sent No. 3 seed Illinois packing with a 77-52 beatdown and advanced to the championship game with an 86-72 win over No. 4 seed Alabama.

Purdue has been almost as dominant throughout the tournament. The Boilermakers moved past No. 16 seed Grambling with a 78-50 win, then demolished No. 8 Utah State 106-67 and overtook No. 5 Gonzaga 80-68. In the regional final, Purdue survived second-seeded Tennessee in a 72-66 decision and rolled past No. 11 seed North Carolina State, 63-50, in the national semifinal.

Uconn vs. Purdue points total for NCAA championship

The Over/Under for the 2024 NCAA championship game has settled at 145 as of Monday morning, with money favoring the Over at the moment.

The Huskies rank No. 1 in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency, while Purdue ranks third. In adjusted defensive efficiency, UConn is No. 4 and Purdue is 12th.

Highest-scoring player prop for NCAA championship

Among the markets available for Monday's NCAA title game is the highest-scoring player prop, with Purdue center Zach Edey a -200 favorite to claim that feat.

Edey has led Purdue in scoring in every NCAA Tournament game this year, as well as a majority of games in the regular season. The 7'4" big man recorded 30 points in the first round, and he put in a career-high 40 against Tennessee.

UConn guard Tristen Newton has the next-best odds to finish as the top scorer, at +900, followed by teammates Cam Spencer (+1400), Alex Karaban (+1600), and Donovan Clingan (+1800). Braden Smith owns the second-best odds of any Purdue player to finish with the most points (+2000) in the contest.

2024 Men's Final Four Most Outstanding Player odds

While Edey is a heavy favorite to outscore the rest of the players on the court Monday night, he's just slightly favored to collect the Most Outstanding Player award for the Final Four.

Edey is listed at +175 odds to secure MOP, ahead of Clingan (+200), UConn's Stephon Castle (+400), Newton (+700), Spencer (+1100), and Smith (+4000).

Note that the MOP typically goes to a player on the winning team, so back Edey with caution, as UConn is expected to raise a second consecutive championship banner on Monday.

Ten men's players have won MOP despite failing to win the championship . The last to do so was Akeem Olajuwon in 1983. Dawn Staley is the only women's basketball player to receive MOP while on the losing end in the NCAA Tournament.

Other NCAA championship game odds

In addition to highest scorer and MOP, there are other NCAA Tournament prop bets available for Monday's game. They include player totals on 3-pointers made, rebounds, assists, steals, and turnovers.

You can also find team totals, player specials, and player combos.

Buzzer-beater NCAA championship odds

Lastly, you can wager on whether the 2024 NCAA championship game will end on a buzzer-beater. The odds are currently listed at +5000. 

According to sports-reference.com, there have been 131 buzzer-beaters in the history of the NCAA Tournament, and just five of those occurred in the national title game. The first was in 1944, when Herb Wilkinson knocked down a field goal with three seconds remaining to put Utah up for good, 42-40, over Dartmouth in the championship.

The most recent buzzer-beater in the national title game happened in 2016, when Kris Jenkins sank a 3-pointer as time expired to lift Villanova over UNC in a 77-74 thriller.