College Basketball betting trends, odds and predictions for Monday, November 20th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NCAAB Knowledge
Oakland won two of its first three games; they lost first road game 87-74 at Toledo Saturday. Grizzlies start a freshman, sop and three seniors- they’re made 40% of their 3’s so far this month, but shooting in Carrier Dome has always been an issue for visitors. Syracuse is 3-0, with wins by 32-9-13 points, the 71-62 win over Iona. Those three opponents shot 27.5% behind the arc. Orange start two sophs, two juniors and a freshman. ACC home favorites are 9-6 vs spread; Horizon road underdogs are 2-5.
North Carolina heads west for PK80 tourney this weekend; they stop in Palo Alto with a 2-0 record, beating No Iowa by 17, Bucknell by 12. Tar Heels got PG Berry (hand) back from injury but he was 1-11 in his first game back. UNC starts two juniors, two seniors. Stanford is 3-1 in four home games, only one of which was against a top 200 team (Northeastern); Cardinal played only seven guys last game, with 6-8 Travis playing whole 40:00 in a 73-59 win. ACC favorites are 8-4 vs spread away from home; Pac-12 underdogs are 2-1.
Iowa won its first three games by 33-34-11 points; those three teams are all in the bottom 10 in the whole country; what a collection of stiffs. Hawkeyes start a freshman, three sophs- they don’t appear to have any seniors. Iowa made 43.7% of its 3’s. UL-Lafayette lost by 18 at Ole Miss, then beat a couple stiffs; Ragin’ Cajuns are ranked #111 right now, so step up in competition for Iowa- they’re starting three juniors, two seniors. ULL made 16-35 3-pointers in their last game. Big 14 favorites are 16-8 vs spread; Sun Belt underdogs are 11-5.
Wyoming beat South Dakota State 77-67 at home LY, in game where both sides took 30+ 3’s. Cowboys led that game by only one point at the half. Wyoming won both its games this year by 9 points each, beating Chattanooga at home, winning at a decent Oregon State team. Cowboys are starting three seniors- 6-8 Dalton played 40:00 both games. Jackrabbits are 3-1 with a win over Cal-Irvine; they lost last game by 31 at Kansas. SD State starts three juniors, two seniors. Mountain West favorites are 9-5 vs spread; Summit League road underdogs are 7-9.
Marquette lost 86-71 at home to Purdue last week; Boilers scored 1.23 ppp. Golden Eagles are starting two sophs, two juniors; their two opponents (1-1) shot 65.7% inside arc against them so far. Marquette was 11-27 on arc vs Purdue. VCU is on its third coach in three years; they beat two stiffs, then lost tough 76-67 home game to Virginia Friday. Rams are playing fast pace but have forced turnovers on only 15.2% of possessions so far. VCU is starting two sophs, three seniors. Big East favorites are 7-5 vs spread; A-14 underdogs are 5-8.
California is in a rebuild, with new coach; six of their 10 guys who play are freshmen. Golden Bears lost at home to Riverside, then beat Cal Poly by 3, Wofford by 14. Wichita State won its first two games by 42-18 points; their 81-63 win over Charleston was easier than expected. Shockers have one guy hurt, another just coming back from injury. AAC favorites are 4-2 vs spread away from home; Pac-12 underdogs are 2-1. This is a 3-day event, so Wichita starters could leave game early to get ready for Marquette-VCU winner Tuesday.
Michigan won its first three games by 20-7-14 points; they struggled to 72-65 win over Central Michigan. Wolverines are playing 5th-slowest pace in America right now, forcing turnovers 24.8% of time. Michigan is starting two sophs, two seniors. LSU has a new coach, lot of new players; they scored 102 ppg in winning first two games over stiffs by 40-19 points. Tigers’ 68.1 eFG% is best in country. LSU is starting two sophs, two juniors. Big 14 favorites are 16-8 vs spread; SEC underdogs are 2-2. LSU beat Samford by 19 and Samford was 15-29 on the arc.
Texas A&M hammered West Va by 23 over in Germany, then beat UCSB by 19; Aggies are really good, and their 6-10 star Williams hasn’t played yet. A&M have been starting three juniors, two seniors. Oklahoma State won its first three games over stiffs (all outside top 200), by 31-18-43 points, allowing 53.3 ppg; Cowboys’ 35.4% eFG% is #3 in country. OSU started is also missing one of their better guys for off-court reasons. SEC favorites are 5-3 vs spread away from home; Big X underdogs are 0-1. Both teams are long way from home in Brooklyn.
UCLA is obviously missing the three shoplifters from the China trip; one of them would start, another would be a key sub. Bruins beat Ga Tech in China- they beat couple stiffs at home since, now they’re back on road in Kansas City. UCLA starts two frosh, two seniors. Creighton won its first three games, with a quality 92-88 win at Northwestern; Bluejays are making 43.2% of their 3’s, have #9 eFG% in country. Creighton loves to run, starts too sophs, two seniors. Big East favorites are 7-5 vs spread; Pac-12 underdogs are 2-1.
Wisconsin lost 80-70 at home to Xavier LW; Badgers play slowish pace, protect ball well; they’re starting two sophs, three juniors as they re-tool some (#319 in experience). Baylor routed three stiffs (all outside top 200) to start its season, winning by 41-24-17 points; Bears beat Michigan State of Big 14 in pre-conference play LY. Baylor has been starting a junior, three seniors. Big X favorites are 3-4 vs spread away from home; Big 14 underdogs are 1-4. This game is in Kansas City, where Big X tournament is played every March.
UNLV hosts Rice in T-Mobile Center, mile or two from their campus, but not their regular home court. Rebels are off to 3-0 start, crushing two stiffs but also beating Eastern Washington by 15- EWU won at Stanford. UNLV is starting two juniors, two seniors and a 1-and-done frosh. Rice is off to a 1-2 start, blowing a 61-48 lead with 8:12 left in a home loss to EKU. Owls also lost by 21 to Georgia State, beat a stiff- they’re starting three sophomores. Mountain West favorites are 9-5 vs spread; C-USA underdogs are 5-7 away from home.
Utah is off to a 3-0 start, beating two stiffs but also pounding Missouri by 18- it was 35-19 at halftime. Utes were +8 in turnovers, forced Mizzou to take more 3’s than 2’s. Utah is starting junior and four seniors. Ole Miss won its first three (home) games by 18-10-5 points, beating couple of decent Sun Belt teams are EKU. Rebels were down 8 at half to Georgia State in last game, pulled ahead late for 77-72 win. Ole Miss starts two sophs, two seniors. Pac-12 teams are 3-3 vs spread away from home; SEC teams are 8-4.
Utah State is already playing its 5th game; they’re 2-2, losing by 6 at Weber State, at Gonzaga by 13- Aggies scored only 9 points in last 10:00 vs Zags- one of their stars (McEwen) missed last 1.5 games. Portland State scored 87 mpg in winning its first two D-I games, by 5 at Portland, by 12 at Riverside. Vikings made 43.1% of their 3’s so far, but are also turning ball over 22.9% of time. PSU is starting four seniors and a junior. Mountain West favorites are 2-1 away from home; Big Sky underdogs are 9-14, 1-0 at home.
Armadillosports.com
Maui Invitational Preview
Vegasinsider.com
The 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational only has one top 25 team amongst its eight combatants, but some highly-esteemed college basketball programs will still be looking to put on a show.
The event is a bracketed-format tournament that will see each team partake in live action each day win or lose. This year’s lineup includes Marquette, VCU, Wichita State, California, Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU, and of course, Chaminade.
A whopping 118 schools representing 26 conferences and 80 percent of the United States have at one point in time laced ‘em up and competed in the Maui Invitational over the course of its 33-year history. Powerhouse teams from powerhouse conferences normally make the trip to the island, and that’s once again the case in 2017.
The last four teams to win it went on to participate in the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina used this tournament as a spring board towards winning the program its sixth national title a year ago. Kansas, Arizona and Syracuse cut the nets down the prior three seasons.
Player to Watch
Keyshawn Evans – The Cal Golden Bears aren’t expected to do much of anything in Pac-12 play in Wyking Jones’ first go of it as head coach in Berkley. In fact, many conference previews expect them to finish dead last or right ahead of Washington State. With so many players departed from last year’s 21-13 team, opportunities have opened for others to step in and make an impact.
That’s exactly what sophomore guard Don Coleman has done through the team’s first three games in averaging over 25 points per game. The youngster dropped 31 and 30 points on UC Riverside and Cal Poly Slo’s heads in the team’s first two games, and he’ll no doubt be looked upon to make some noise on the island.
Team to Watch
Wichita State Shockers – If there were any sort of odds released to win this tournament, the Shockers would no doubt be the odds on favorites to do so. Gregg Marshall’s kids got out to a slow start at the beginning of last season, and because of it, got tabbed a No. 10 seed by the selection committee in last year’s NCAA Tournament even though they entered it having not lost a game since the middle of January.
You can bet your bottom dollar the Shockers hit the hardwood looking to accrue some style points over the next three days. The absence of Markis McDuffie will make it tougher to dominate the glass, but Shaquille Morris and Darral Willis Jr. should still be able to handle their business. Look for Landry Shamet to take a liking to the Lahaina Civic Center’s notorious soft rims.
Coach to Watch
Mike Brey – The Fighting Irish have won a total of 50 games over the last two years, and it has everything to do with the job Brey does getting the best out of his players. Now in his 18th year at the helm of the program, he’s got a couple of PTP’ers in Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell that will no doubt have Notre Dame competing for league dominance as well as a trip back to the Big Dance for the eighth time in the last nine years.
No longer the underdog, the target is square on the Irish’s back after excelling for a number of years now. If there was any coach readily able to take on a challenge like that and live to tell about it, it would be Mike Brey who has routinely gotten more from unknown players in the past and turned them into collegiate studs.
Prediction: Wichita State cuts down the nets