The college hoops season has been underway for just over a month and many sportsbooks have been left scratching their heads trying to pin down who the favorite should be in a wide-open 2019-20 season. As it stands, there are just two teams in the AP Top 25 that remain undefeated and neither of those teams is found in the top 10. Instead, it is Duke and Louisville that are atop the oddsboard at +900, even though each has a loss to an unranked squad.

Online sportsbook Bovada has Duke and Louisville as the co-favorites at +900 followed by Kansas at +1000, Ohio State at +1200, Kentucky and Michigan State at +1400, Gonzaga at +1500, Maryland and Michigan at +1800, and Memphis and Oregon at +2000 to round out the top teams on the oddsboard.

Duke and Louisville, Does One Have the Edge Over the Other?

The Duke Blue Devils stormed out of the gate in fine fashion, winning their first six games and covering in four of those, including a 68-66 triumph over then-No. 3 Kansas, now ranked No. 1. However, a wake-up call came on November 26 when Duke was a 28-point favorite at home to unranked Stephen F. Austin but lost outright 85-83. The Blue Devils have rebounded from that defeat with three straight wins, including an 87-75 road victory over then-No. 11 Michigan State.

Duke has great chemistry between sophomore point guard Tre Jones and freshman Vernon Carey Jr. Jones is averaging 15.6 points and 7.1 assists per game, while Carey is putting up a team high in points (18.5) and rebounds (9.2). Overall, the Blue Devils are racking up 83.4 ppg to rank seventh and are giving up 65.6 ppg.

Similar to Duke, Louisville had a strong start to the 2019-20 campaign, rattling off nine straight wins and covering in five of those contests, including a 58-43 victory over then-No. 4 Michigan. That said, the Cardinals tipped off against unranked Texas Tech in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden closing as a 7.5-point favorite but suffered a 70-57 defeat.

Leading the charge for Louisville is junior forward Jordan Nwora, who is averaging a career best in points (21.3), assists (1.5), steals (1.1) and shooting percentage (48.8). The Cards have been tough defensively, limiting their foes to 59.5 ppg, while on the offensive side of the ball they sit 44th in the nation with 77.3 ppg. It’ll be interesting to see how Louisville performs in conference play, notably on the road at Duke on January 18, which should show us a lot.

Are There Teams Providing Better Value than the Co-Favorites?

There is one team that I think is providing great value right now and that’s Gonzaga at +1600. I had thought that Memphis was also a team to keep an eye on as it is playing at a high level without projected No. 1 NBA draft pick James Wiseman. However, the freshman center recently announced that he would not be returning to the team after his suspension and therefore the Tigers are no longer a sneaky pick.

The Zags are currently second in the rankings, sporting an 11-1 record with wins vs then-No. 11 Oregon and at then-No. 22 Washington and then-No. 15 Arizona. Gonzaga’s lone loss came in the Battle 4 Atlantis against Michigan.

The Bulldogs have a fairly chumpy schedule during conference play that should allow them to be a higher seed come tournament time and their odds will only decrease the closer we get to that time.

Here’s a look at the full list of odds for the 2019-20 NCAAB national title: