Expectations are high for the Purdue Boilermakers going into the season, ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press poll for the first time, and bookmakers are giving them the added pressure of being preseason national championship favorites.

Purdue is the consensus favorite to win the national championship ahead of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season, showing +850 odds at ESPN BET. Last season’s runners-up, the Houston Cougars, are the consensus second-favorites at +1000 at ESPN BET, with Duke (+1100), UConn (+1200) and Kentucky (+1500) rounding out the top five.

Purdue didn’t open as the favorite around the time of the 2025 national championship game in April, but a productive offseason and hype around a talented team, led by Wooden Award preseason favorite Braden Smith (+400), has created a groundswell of support: The Boilermakers have garnered the highest share of national championship handle at both ESPN BET and BetMGM.

“There’s been a lot of offseason buzz around Purdue with them bringing three players back and addressing some weaknesses in the portal,” Caesars college basketball trader Patrick Berbert told ESPN. “So, they’ve been the popular team it seems so far.”

“In recent years, the transfer portal has become one of the biggest factors in preseason odds, as we evaluate how teams are balancing adding talent with roster continuity and chemistry,” ESPN BET senior director Adrian Horton said over email. “You can have a team that did well last season completely re-tooled with new faces, which may look like an upgrade on paper, but we need to see it in game action.”

Duke, by contrast, opened as the favorite for the 2026 national championship, but the Blue Devils saw their odds lengthen after they lost all five of their 2024-25 starters, including No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, to the NBA draft. A third-best 8.1% of the bets are backing Duke at BetMGM, but they’ve taken only 6.4% of the money there.

Meanwhile, Houston has simply maintained its standing as second best on the odds board and has received healthy support from the public, attracting the most bets (13.6%) at ESPN BET. BetMGM considers the Cougars to be its third-largest liability after it took the second-most wagers and handle there.

Last season’s national champions, the Florida Gators, come into the 2025-26 campaign with +1600 odds, sixth on ESPN BET’s odds board, which is a marked improvement over the +6000 they had going into last season. This season’s Gators have attracted only moderate action from bettors, but bookmakers will be on the lookout for a longer team on the board that could make a run to favorite status with early impressive play like Florida did last season.

“Most years, there is a sleeper team out there that wasn’t expected to do well and they’ll play really well early on,” said Berbert. “So it’s really important, just on a day-to-day trading basis, to be able to spot these teams when they’re exceeding expectations and to not be slow to react, especially in the futures market.”

FAISALABAD: Pakistan’s newly appointed one-day international (ODI) captain, Shaheen Afridi, is aiming for a strong performance in his debut series as skipper in the 50-over format, which begins Tuesday against South Africa in Faisalabad.

“It is an honour for me to lead the country,” the 25-year-old said in a pre-match press conference whose first stint as T20I captain ended after a 4-1 defeat in New Zealand last year.

“Even as a player, wearing the national colours is always a matter of pride — but now, as captain, there is an added sense of responsibility,” Shaheen added.

When asked about being handed the ODI captaincy following his previous stint as T20I skipper, Shaheen maintained a composed response.

“Our job is to serve Pakistan cricket and fulfil whatever role we’re given. Leadership appointments are the management’s decisions, and we respect that. My focus right now is on improving our one-day cricket and leading the team from the front,” he said.

With Shaheen, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah in the attack and Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Rizwan in the squad, the home team will be at full strength.

South Africa, however, will be without their injured regular skipper ,Temba Bavuma, and seven key players, including the pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, who are rested.

The captaincy is entrusted to newcomer Matthew Breetzke, who hit the highest-ever score on ODI debut of 150, which came against New Zealand in Lahore earlier this year.

Despite the under-strength squad, Breetzke put up a brave face.

“We are missing the core group of ODI players that we usually have, but in saying this there is an opportunity for the younger guys to step up and take the challenge,” said Breetzke.

South Africa’s star Quinton de Kock will make a comeback to ODI cricket after reversing his 2023 retirement before the tour.

The three-match ODI series is a part of the Proteas tour of Pakistan, featuring an all-format series. A two-match Test series was shared by both teams 1-1, while Pakistan won the three-match T20I series 2-1.

Meanwhile, Shaeen and his counterpart Breetzke unveiled the glittering trophy for the three-match ODI series between.

International cricket returns to Faisalabad after 17 years

With the ODI series commencing from Tuesday at the Iqbal Stadium, international cricket is making a return to Faisalabad after 17 years. The remaining matches will be played on 6 and 8 November at the same venue.

The last international match at the Iqbal Stadium was played on 11 April 2008, when Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in an ODI by seven wickets. The historic venue has hosted 16 ODIs to date, including four World Cup matches – one in 1987 and three in 1996.

Pakistan have featured in 12 ODIs at this ground, winning nine and losing three. South Africa, on the other hand, have played five ODIs here, winning two and losing three. Across all ODIs between the two sides, Pakistan and South Africa have met 87 times, with Pakistan winning 34 and South Africa emerging victorious in 52 encounters. In Pakistan, both teams have won eight matches each out of 16.

In Faisalabad, Pakistan and South Africa have contested in three ODIs. Pakistan have won on two occasions (in 1994 and 2007), while South Africa secured victory in one (2003).

—With additional input from AFP