Even if you're the type to gripe that it's "too early in the season for bracketology," it's never too early for men's college basketball national championship odds.

If you're going to place such a bet today, it should probably be on a team ranked in the AP Top 10. The last nine national champions (as well as 16 of the past 17) were ranked in the Top 10 of the final AP poll of November.

So, which of those top teams' odds to win it all are most worth buying roughly four months before the 2025 title game?

We'll give a brief justification for buying and selling each team at its current line before offering up a verdict.

To be clear: A buying verdict doesn't mean we definitely think that team will be in the Final Four, nor does selling mean we think that team has no chance of winning it all. What we're buying and selling is whether the implied percent chance of a national championship is too high or too low.

Teams are listed in ascending order of ranking in the latest AP poll. Title odds are from DraftKings as of Tuesday morning.

10. Alabama Crimson Tide

Current Title Odds: +1300 (Fourth-best)

Reason to Buy: Relentless on Offense

Preseason national player of the year front-runner Mark Sears has been very hit-or-miss thus far. 5-star freshman Derrion Reid hasn't been much of a factor. And Chris Youngblood (ankle injury) has yet to make his Alabama debut after averaging 14.2 PPG over the past four seasons.

And still this might be the best offense in the nation, averaging 87.8 points over its last five games against Purdue, Illinois, Houston, Rutgers and Oregon.

Imagine if they start firing on all cylinders.

Reason to Sell: Can't Stop Much of Anything

Scoring 87.8 points per game has been nice, but allowing 85.4 points in those same five games has made all that offense a necessity just to tread water through the ongoing nonconference gauntlet.

In fact, Alabama has allowed at least 80 points in five consecutive games and is projected to allow 89 Wednesday night at North Carolina.

The defensive shortcomings don't appear to be quite as dire as last year, when the Crimson Tide allowed at least 85 points in more than 50 percent of games played and rated outside the top 100 in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom. Still, early returns haven't been great.

Verdict: Selling

This is a quality team that can put up points on anyone and everyone. But Alabama should not have top-five title odds when we have decades' worth of data showing that these "elite offense, mediocre defense" teams don't win national championships.

9. Duke Blue Devils

Current Title Odds: +1000 (Second-best)

Reason to Buy: Long and Tenacious on Defense

The best Duke teams of yore were the ones that could win games on defense, and Jon Scheyer has put together one of those rosters this year.

The Blue Devils are No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency—as well as No. 1 in average height—able to stifle good offenses and completely demoralize the less-good ones.

Freshmen Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach are already solid on that end of the floor and should only become more impactful as they mature. In the meantime, veteran transfers Maliq Brown, Sion James and Mason Gillis have been professional pains in the butt on defense.

Reason to Sell: Wilts Under Pressure

Make all of the "Flagg is only 17" excuses you want, but Duke blew a nine-point halftime lead one week into the season against a Kentucky team that is a Transfer Portal Frankenstein's Monster. It also had a Kansas team sans Hunter Dickinson after his ejection dead to rights before letting the Jayhawks steal a win.

In the final 60 seconds of those games, Duke committed four turnovers (three by Flagg) and scored zero points.

This roster is dripping with talent, but repeatedly coming up short in games decided by five points or fewer was a major problem for the Blue Devils last year, too.

Verdict: Selling

Duke at +1000 is a tougher sell than Alabama at +1200, but we're really keeping the Blue Devils at the second-best championship odds after watching them collapse late in the neutral-site losses to Kentucky and Kansas?

The freshmen should become more reliable in big moments as the season progresses, but there are better title threats at this point.

8. Purdue Boilermakers

Current Title Odds: +6000 (Tied for 21st-best)

Reason to Buy: One of the Best Backcourt Duos

Two years ago, freshmen Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer were the biggest reason to sell Purdue as a title contender, as those inexperienced guards would panic and fall to pieces any time they ran up against a physical, turnover-forcing defense.

But now, that dynamic duo is the biggest reason Purdue could win it all.

Smith's averages through eight contests (12.8 PPG, 9.1 APG, 5.1 RPG, 1.9 SPG) are phenomenal. Loyer's ratio of 13.8 points to 8.0 field-goal attempts is also superb, fueled by a 58.6 percent conversion rate on three-point shots.

Might need Loyer to become a bit more assertive than he has been, but Purdue is in good hands with those guards.

Reason to Sell: Struggling to Establish a Big Man

Purdue does have a great frontcourt presence in Trey Kaufman-Renn, whose sophomore-to-junior year explosion has been jaw dropping.

But we're talking a traditional Matt Painter BIIIIG man, a la Zach Edey, Matt Haarms, Isaac Haas, A.J. Hammons, etc.

7'4" freshman Daniel Jacobsen suffered a broken leg early in the second game of his career and will miss the rest of the season. 7'2" sophomore Will Berg has been a non-factor, not even appearing in either of the past two games.

It's a much smaller Purdue than usual, with virtually no depth, to boot.

Verdict: Buying

If the odds for all three teams were the same, yes, you'd be buying Duke and Alabama before you're buying Purdue.

They're not the same, though, which is the whole point of this exercise. And for the Boilermakers to have the 21st-best odds right now is lunacy. They should be more like +3000. (FWIW, Purdue was listed at an even more absurd +7500 on Monday morning.)

7. Gonzaga Bulldogs

Current Title Odds: +1200 (Third-best)

Reason to Buy: Defense Appears to Be Better

Though Gonzaga did extend its streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to an incredible nine tournaments, the defense over the past two years simply was not up to snuff.

While it'd be a stretch to classify the Zags as elite on that end of the floor, the early returns suggest they're much-improved on the defensive glass, as well as improved in the turnover-forcing department.

KenPom puts Gonzaga at 15th in adjusted defensive efficiency, which is plenty good enough for championship consideration.

Reason to Sell: Shooting percentages

It's early in the year and they've faced a solid schedule, but the Zags presently have their worst two-point percentage since 2016-17 and their worst three-point percentage since 1996-97.

The funny thing is they're still just outside the top 50 in effective field-goal percentage, so these are some seriously relative worsts we're talking about. They're also hitting free throws at an 82.4 percent clip, so it's not like they can't shoot.

Still, for Gonzaga to be outside the top 10 in two-point percentage—let alone outside the top 50—is bizarre.

Verdict: Selling

This line feels about right for Gonzaga, which has set up permanent residence in the second weekend of the dance and is probably going to eventually win one, right?

This is an ancient team with six seniors among its primary eight-man rotation. And despite the aforementioned note on shooting percentages, all eight regulars have either scored in double figures three times or scored at least 15 points once already this season.

Forced to pick a lane, though, it's a sell. But that's only because we've all been burned too many times by picking Gonzaga to win it all.

6. Iowa State Cyclones

Current Title Odds: +1800 (Eighth-best)

Reason to Buy: They've Learned How to Score

For the first three years under T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State was an elite defense that had just enough potency on offense to win games on a fairly regular basis. The Cyclones averaged 65.6 points per game in 2021-22, 67.6 the following season and kicked it up a few notches to a still-121st-in-the-nation mark of 75.3 PPG last year.

This year, they've scored at least 81 points (in regulation, no less) in every game they've played, which includes a narrow loss to Auburn, a close win over Dayton and a blowout of Colorado.

They're still pretty darn good at forcing turnovers, too, averaging just under 10 steals per game. But they're definitely improved on offense to the point where it doesn't feel like you can beat them in a 65-62 type of trench warfare game by just making sure to keep giveaways to a minimum.

Reason to Sell: Never Been There

Never mind a national championship, Iowa State hasn't even been to the Final Four since 1944, when there were only eight teams in the field. Since then, the Cyclones have only advanced as far as an Elite Eight once, doing so in 2000.

Even though they've been a top-six seed seven times in the past 11 years, it just never translates to a deep tournament run.

More rationally speaking, the defense isn't as good as last year, allowing 83 to Auburn and 84 to Dayton on consecutive days after allowing 76 or more points just twice all of last season. (Can maybe blame those soft rims in Maui, though?)

Verdict: Buying

Loved what the Cyclones showed in Maui, as transfers Dishon Jackson and Joshua Jefferson have been ideal fits in the frontcourt. Definitely a team capable of winning it all.

5. Marquette Golden Eagles

Current Title Odds: +4000 (Tied for 13th-best)

Reason to Buy: Turnover Margin

Not only is Marquette the best in the nation at generating steals, but it has incredibly gotten even better about ball security after transitioning from Tyler Kolek to Kam Jones at lead guard.

The former was a doggone good point guard, but he did average just under 3.0 turnovers per game. Jones is sitting at just 1.5 through eight games and is largely responsible for the Golden Eagles sitting at 99 steals and 144 total turnovers forced against just 78 turnovers committed.

They were already rock solid at plus-4.7 turnovers per game last year, but if they can even remotely maintain this plus-8.3 margin, look out.

Reason to Sell: Limited Depth

Marquette's starting five might be top-five in the nation, but bench points are a bit of a question mark.

Freshmen Royce Parham and Damarius Owens have been the top contributing reserves thus far, but the former is 6-of-28 from three-point range and may or may not believe in passing the ball (two assists in 115 minutes played), while the latter got a late start to the year and has been turnover prone in his limited minutes.

Ideally, they'll get Sean Jones back at full strength from the torn ACL he suffered last January. Until then, though, it feels like Marquette is one sprained ankle away from sputtering through a rough patch.

Verdict: Buying

Similar to Purdue at +6000, Marquette at +4000 is a major "wait, what am I missing here?" type of line.

Maybe top-five odds would be a bit much for the Golden Eagles, but for their odds to be more than three times as long as Gonzaga's is kind of outrageous.

4. Kentucky Wildcats

Current Title Odds: +2000 (Ninth-best)

Reason to Buy: Leading Country in Scoring

Prior to facing Clemson on Tuesday, Kentucky was averaging a nation-best 96.7 points per game.

Considering the Wildcats were limited to 77 by Duke before scoring 66 against Clemson in the only two games that were supposed to be a challenge, the jury is still out on whether they're a legitimate threat to end the season at No. 1 in that department.

Mark Pope is no stranger to overseeing prolific offense, though. BYU averaged 81.4 PPG last season, and Pope's teams (including his final year at Utah Valley before going to BYU) ranked top 25 in effective field-goal percentage in four of the last six years.

Reason to Sell: Too Reliant on Threes

Save for Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison splitting duties at the 5, everyone on Kentucky's roster is a legitimate threat from distance, particularly Koby Brea at 26-for-43 (60.5 percent).

But have we gone all the way through the looking glass to the point where Kentucky is overly perimeter-oriented?

Never would we have dreamed of saying that in the John Calipari days, but there were several long stretches in the loss to Clemson where the Wildcats just had no interest in even trying to probe the paint. As a result, shooting 26 percent from three-point range doomed them.

Verdict: Selling

Kentucky might be pretty darn good, but in its lone games of any real consequence, it lost at Clemson and benefitted from Duke blowing a 10-point lead and completely collapsing late.

Not sure there's enough here yet to justify top-10 odds for what was a +4000 team ranked outside the KenPom top 40 to open the season. Feels like we're being asked to pay a hefty "Kentucky Tax."

3. Tennessee Volunteers

Current Title Odds: +1700 (Seventh-best)

Reason to Buy: Found Quite the Replacement for Dalton Knecht

Taking a transfer from Northern Colorado and instantly turning him into a first-team All-American easily could have been a once-in-a-lifetime find for Tennessee last season.

However, with Dalton Knecht now doing his thing for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Volunteers have another sensational up-transfer on their hands, with former North Florida shooting guard Chaz Lanier leading the team at 17.7 points per game and shooting the lights out from three-point range.

Lanier went for 19 at Louisville, and scored a combined 51 points in the wins over Virginia and Baylor in the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship

Reason to Sell: It's Rick Barnes and It's Tennessee

In 26 trips to the NCAA tournament, Tennessee has never been to a Final Four. Rick Barnes did get there once in 2003 with Texas, but that was the lone national semifinal in 28 tries in his career.

And it's not like this combo hasn't been very good in recent years. Barnes has guided Tennessee to a No. 5 seed or better in each of the last six NCAA tournaments. For whatever reason, though, it is cursed in March.

(Tennessee and Zakai Zeigler have also been surprisingly turnover-prone in the early going.)

Verdict: Buying

Tennessee entered Tuesday at seventh or better in every single ranking on the NCAA tournament team sheets, including debuting at No. 1 in the NET on Monday. The Volunteers' title odds have definitely grown shorter since the beginning of the year, but this is still solid value.

2. Auburn Tigers

Current Title Odds: +950 (Best)

Reason to Buy: Out to Best Start in Nation

Auburn enters Wednesday's showdown with Duke at 7-0, with high-quality wins away from home against each of Houston, Iowa State, North Carolina and Memphis. The Tigers also decimated Vermont, Kent State and North Alabama.

With Johni Broome leading the way, they're virtually unstoppable in the paint. And with their swarming (albeit not turnover-forcing) approach on defense, they've made life miserable for opposing backcourts, allowing seven threes or fewer in each game, as well as seven assists or fewer in six of seven contests.

Auburn is also super old. Eight of its nine regulars are seniors, four of whom are fifth-year seniors, putting the lone exception (freshman combo guard Tahaad Pettiford) in a great position to shine.

Reason to Sell: No True Point Guard

In each of the close wins over Houston and Iowa State, Auburn had 14 assists against 12 turnovers and didn't have any individual with more than three assists.

It worked, but barely. They had to make frantic second-half comebacks in both of those games.

Not having a primary ball-handler is something opponents may eventually figure out how to exploit.

Verdict: Selling

Consistently over the past decade, the eventual national champion has been ranked top-five on KenPom after one month of action.

The only one that was No. 1 at that point in the year, however, was Baylor in 2020-21, which spent almost that entire season as the No. 2 team behind Gonzaga at No. 1, but did briefly hang out in the top spot for a week around Christmas.

I suspect it's more of an oddity than any sort of legitimate evidence about teams peaking too early, but it bears mentioning before betting on the early favorite.

1. Kansas Jayhawks

Current Title Odds: +1500 (Sixth-best)

Reason to Buy: Substantially More Depth Than Last Year

A late-season injury replacement of a player of Kevin McCullar Jr.'s caliber would've been tough for any team to manage. It was especially impossible for 2023-24 Kansas, though, which couldn't even find a reliable fifth starter until midway through the season, let alone an asset it could trust off the bench.

This year, however, the Jayhawks are productively going eight deep no problem and could have a solid ninth option on their hands if Mississippi State transfer Shakeel Moore fully recovers from the offseason foot injury that has limited him to 11 minutes.

Hunter Dickinson will be the NPOY candidate in the spotlight, but they are loaded with weapons, most of whom are upperclassmen.

Reason to Sell: Manufacturing Points

Kansas has shot the ball quite well, but there's inevitably going to be a night in the tournament when even an elite shooting team goes cold and needs to grind one out with offensive rebounds, with free throws and with steals that turn into easy buckets.

Thus far, though, this Jayhawks team has done very little on the offensive glass, has allowed 31 more free-throw attempts than it has taken and has not forced many turnovers.

That could make them more prone than most to the occasional big run against them.

Verdict: Buying

Kansas entered the season as one of the three most likely candidates to win the national championship. The Jayhawks beat one of the other two (Duke) on a neutral court, while the other one was going 0-3 in Maui...

And they now have the sixth-best odds?

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but we're buying, please and thanks.