North Carolina leads the way at 3/1 on the college basketball betting lines to win the NCAA Tournament next spring, with fellow ACC school Duke at 8/1, and the SEC's Kentucky sandwiched between them at 5/1.

However, while those conferences boast the top odds, the Big East makes up a third of the top contenders to claim the Big Dance in the upcoming season: Each of Louisville (17/2), Syracuse (12/1), Connecticut (25/1), Pittsburgh (25/1), and St. John's (25/1) sit in the first 15 spots on the championship odds list right now.

North Carolina and Duke are the only ACC schools in that top 15, while Florida (18/1) joins Kentucky from the SEC. The Big 12 and Big Ten also offer up two teams each in that top 15, with Texas (18/1) and Kansas (20/1) representing the Big 12, and Ohio State (17/2) and Michigan State (25/1) on the board for the Big Ten.

Conference USA's Memphis (25/1) and the Pac-12's UCLA (25/1) round out the top 15 as the lone representatives from their respective conferences at that level on the odds.

Also adding to the Big East's claim of being the toughest conference in college basketball? They boast the defending champions in Connecticut, and they had seven teams in the AP Top 25 in last season's final poll.

The Big 12 had four teams in that Top 25, while the Big Ten and SEC had three apiece, and the top-heavy ACC had just the two powerhouses (UNC and Duke). The Mountain West and Pac-10 had two teams in the Top 25 of that poll as well, with one each coming from the Atlantic 10 and Western Athletic conferences.

Get all your college basketball odds at BoDog.