NCAA Historical Final Four & Championship Game Betting Lines

I have gone back in history and dug up the scores from previous Final Four & NCAA Championship games. The information you will find in the tables below dates back to 1985, which is when the NCAA Tournament was expanded to 64 teams.

The tables have the closing line for every Final Four and NCAA Championship Game since 1985, from Sports Odds History (now part of Covers). I’ll make a couple of notes about what I have found that will hopefully help you handicap the 2027 Final Four in Detroit and the ones in years to come.

Missing Season

Unfortunately, there was no NCAA Tournament, and therefore no Final Four or Championship game, in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Final Four Results & Vegas Point Spreads

Through the 2026 tournament, favorites are 40-40-2 against the spread in the semifinals. Closing lines are from Sports Odds History, now part of Covers. Where sources disagree: Michigan-Arizona in 2026 closed Michigan -1.5 at Covers and in other pregame listings, and Arizona -1 at Sports Odds History; Michigan covered either way. Wisconsin-Kentucky in 2014 is Kentucky -1 at Sports Odds History, a push; previews had Kentucky -1.5, which Wisconsin covers, and one odds archive closed it a pick’em, which Kentucky covers. Kentucky-Louisville in 2012 is Kentucky -8 at Sports Odds History and in an odds archive, a push; the Las Vegas Review-Journal and others had -8.5 to -9, which Louisville covers.

NCAA Championship Game Odds & Score Results

Through the 2026 tournament, favorites are 23-18 against the spread in the title game. Closing lines are from Sports Odds History, now part of Covers. Where sources disagree: UNLV’s lines in 1990 and 1991 come from books outside Nevada, whose books were barred from posting UNLV games. The 1989 final is Michigan -2.5 at Sports Odds History, so Seton Hall covered in its overtime loss; Wikipedia’s game box, with no source given, has Seton Hall -2.5, under which Michigan covered.

Oddsmakers generally expect close battles in the Final Four. The 2024 semifinals were the exception, with UConn closing at -10.5 against Alabama and Purdue at -9.5 against NC State, and both favorites covered. In 2025 all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four for the first time since 2008, and both 2026 semifinals closed at 1.5 points or less: Michigan covered against Arizona, and UConn beat Illinois 71-62 as the underdog. Through 2026, semifinal favorites are 40-40-2 against the spread.

Favorites in the NCAA Championship Game have been a strong bet recently. The betting favorite has won the title game straight up five years running (2022-2026) and covered in three of them: UConn in 2023 and 2024, and Florida as a 1.5-point favorite in its 65-63 win over Houston in 2025. Michigan ended the run of covers in 2026, beating UConn 69-63 as a 6.5-point favorite. Since 1985, title-game favorites are 30-11 straight up and 23-18 against the spread.

There have been some massive upsets in the history of the NCAA Championship Game. The biggest by the closing line are Villanova beating Georgetown 66-64 in 1985 and UConn beating Duke 77-74 in 1999, both as 9.5-point underdogs at Sports Odds History. Kansas (1988) won as an 8-point underdog and Arizona (1997) as a 6.5-point underdog. More recently, Baylor’s 2021 destruction of undefeated Gonzaga stands out as a major upset, though they were only 4.5-point underdogs at tip-off.

Point spreads were often much wider in the 80s and 90s. From 1985 to 1999, there were four title games with a favorite of at least 8 points, topped by Kentucky (-14) over Syracuse in 1996. The “parity era” of the 2010s had only two title games close at 6.5 points or more (2010 and 2018), while the 2020s already have three: UConn in 2023 and 2024, and Michigan in 2026.

2025 NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship Replay