Fresh off its first trip to the NCAA tournament Final Four, the Alabama men’s basketball team has a great opportunity to break through to something bigger during the 2024-25 season.

You don’t have to look far down the list to find the Alabama basketball national championship odds or the Alabama basketball SEC championship odds.

Led by the return of high-scoring All-America point guard Mark Sears, the Crimson Tide have the highest hopes heading into the new season, which begins Nov. 4 with a home game against UNC-Asheville. Alabama is ranked No. 2 behind Kansas in the preseason Associated Press rankings.

Here is a closer look at the Alabama basketball championship odds.

Alabama national championship odds

It has been rare throughout Alabama basketball history that Tide fans have had realistic hopes of winning a national championship. The preseason Alabama national championship odds prove those hopes are warranted for 2024-25.

Alabama is listed anywhere from second to fifth on the odds boards offered by the best online sportsbooks. The Tide have odds as low as +1000 at DraftKings — where they are tied with Duke and Kansas as the second favorite. Their odds are as high as +1500 at FanDuel Sportsbook — where they are the fifth favorite.

The Alabama national championship odds are so close to the top because of last season’s success and this season’s roster, which features key players from last season.

Sears leads the way. An All-America second-team honoree last season, Sears averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He broke the Alabama single-season record by scoring at least 20 points in 26 games. Sears also is a preseason All-American and a top-five favorite in the odds on the top sporting apps to win the John R. Wooden Award.

F Grant Nelson also returns after starting all 37 games last season. He averaged 11.9 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds. Nelson was named to the All-SEC second team this preseason. G Latrell Wrightsell Jr. is back, too. He was the team’s top three-point shooter last season with a mark of 44.7%.

Alabama coach Nate Oats was active in the transfer portal. He signed four transfers, including Rutgers’ Clifford Omoruyi. Omoruyi, a center, averaged 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in 121 games over four seasons with Rutgers.

The Tide also signed four freshmen, including McDonald’s All-Americans F Derrion Reid and FAiden Sherrell from the same school in California.

With all the parity in college basketball, the competition for the NCAA championship is always tough. Alabama is equipped to handle the rigors of March Madness thanks to its high-end talent and depth. Expect the Tide to be in the mix for the national championship.

Alabama regular season SEC championship odds

The rigors of the SEC schedule are not for the faint of heart. Eight SEC teams made it to the NCAA tournament last season, meaning there were hardly any easy games (sorry, 0-18 Missouri).

Alabama, which won the conference title in 2022-23 with a 16-2 record, finished in a four-way tie for second place last season with a 13-5 conference record. Tennessee (14-4) won the outright championship. SEC media picked Alabama to win the conference this season.

The Tide are favored to win this season’s regular season championship with odds as low as +200 on BetMGM Sportsbook and as high as +275 on bet365 Sportsbook. Auburn is the second favorite on all the major sports betting apps, though Auburn and Alabama are co-favorites with +220 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook.