The end of March Madness is rapidly approaching and that means odds have been released for the Final Four MVP.
Unsurprisingly, the most dominant player in college basketball, Purdue’s Zach Edey, is the favorite to win the award at +195 on FanDuel Sportsbook.
This is despite the Boilermakers being underdogs to win the National Championship at +190; you are getting an ever-so-slight discount on their title odds by betting on Edey.
Edey is followed by a quintet of white-hot UConn Huskies players, including Tristen Newton (+340), Donovan Clingan (+340), Cam Spencer (+500) and Stephon Castle (20/1).
Should there be a wild upset to win it all, you’re looking at Alabama’s Mark Sears (20/1) and NC State’s DJ Burns (29/1) and DJ Horne (37/1) before you get to extreme long-shot territory.
Final Four MVP odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Zach Edey (Purdue) | +195 |
| Tristen Newton (UConn) | +340 |
| Donovan Clingan (UConn) | +340 |
| Cam Spencer (UConn) | +500 |
| Stephon Castle (UConn) | 20/1 |
| Mark Sears (Alabama) | 20/1 |
| DJ Burns (NC State) | 29/1 |
| DJ Horne (NC State) | 37/1 |
| Braden Smith (Purdue) | 40/1 |
| Alex Karaban (UConn) | 60/1 |
| Aaron Estrada (Alabama) | 100/1 |
| Grant Nelson (Alabama) | 100/1 |
Technically, the winner can be given to any player who showcases outstanding performance in the Final Four, but the player must realistically lead their team to a national championship.
In a vacuum, there’s a chance that a player puts up such a herculean effort that they could be considered for the award despite a losing effort, similar to LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals.
But even then, Andre Iguodala still won Finals MVP despite James’ insane efforts and stat line.
There has not been a player win the Final Four MVP award without winning the National Championship since 1983 when Hakeem Olajuwon put up an incredible performance in a losing effort to NC State.
Prior to that, the winner being the runner-up was a semi-normal occurrence, but it’s been 30 years since it has happened again.
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It will likely be one of the four UConn Huskies players to win the award this year, but it’s anyone’s guess who will actually win it.
Maybe they will just forgo the best player performances and give the award to coach Dan Hurley this year.