Gonzaga Reminds Nation Why They Are Favorite National Championship Candidates

The college basketball world is about to kick off its busy season with conference games starting across the country nightly. While we are still screening the top contenders, sports bettors keep an eye on the NCAA Tournament and some valuable bets to make on the Futures markets.

Every week here at BetSidedWe will rank the top 25 teams against their future odds.

Here’s how things go when the conference game kicks in. All odds listed are through WynnBET.

It’s pretty tight against the other two SEC teams that comprise the class, but Gonzaga is a worthy national championship contender, evident on Saturday night when they raced BYU, 90-57 en route.

First-year star Chet Holmgren has unlocked the Zags defense, which is ranked fourth for the best two-point defense in the country.

There was a feeling that Auburn would lose after another close game down the road, this time against Georgia, the team that fired a final second to claim their 19th straight win.

This was a legitimate title contender by all means, but a glitch on the road knocked them out of the top spot. A road game in Arkansas on Tuesday night will be about the mental strength of these Tigers.

Arizona held its home service this week, beating UCLA in a revenge game and then avoiding defeat to USC on Saturday.

The Wildcats had a bit of ups and downs throughout the game, lagging towards the end of the second half, but with their high tempo play (fourth in adjusted tempo each KenPom) and excellent inner defense (best two point defense in the country) Tommy Lloyd’s team can resist dry spells on attack.

Villanova was swept by Marquette in ugly style on the road this week, 83-73, but was able to recover at home against UConn.

Nova’s defensive stats are falling during the conference game, down to 25th nationally according to KenPom’s adjusted defensive effectiveness and the team is now waiting to hear about senior defender Collin Gillespie’s ankle. . He toss it in the second half of the team’s Saturday win. If severe, it could damage Nova’s chances of winning the Big East regular season.

After a crushing defeat to Kentucky at home last week, Kansas had its most impressive week of the season, winning at Ames over Iowa State without star Ochai Agbaji and trailing Baylor by 24 points. .

The Jayhawks have questions defensively, but Agbaji and veteran forward Christian Braun are the engines behind the nation’s third-best offensive behavior.

Purdue is an interesting case in point this season. They are cornered on the offensive with future lottery picks Jaden Ivey and big time Zach Eddey, but their defense is currently outside of KenPom’s top 100. This is a sign of a team that is ripe for an early exit from the NCAA Tournament if they don’t clean up their act on that side of the ball.

The team’s team will host Illinois on Tuesday in a game that could decide the Big Ten’s regular-season champions.

Did Kofi Cockburn win the National Player of the Year last week? Big man Illini is still the 4th choice for the award at WynnBET at +800 but was the best player on the floor in the team’s devastating win over Wisconsin, scoring 37 points in a 16/19 shootout and 10 rebounds.

He was also a key factor in the team’s win on Saturday in Indiana. Illinois is beginning to consider part of the Final Four-sized team as they are healthy for the first time all season and will make a statement Tuesday night at Purdue.

Confidence just keeps winning. It’s now February 20 into the season, the brothers are still flying a bit under the radar. Advanced metrics still don’t love Ed Cooley’s club, ranked 41st in KenPom’s overall rating and 1st in the ‘Lucky’ category by a wide margin.

Maybe their reckoning was coming in with two underdogs against Villanova, but now they’ve knocked on the door for second in our power rankings.

They will be quiet this week with Saturday’s only game at home against lowly DePaul.

Hogs continues to build momentum to run the March Tournament. Since the calendar flipped to January, the team is 8-2 and 13th in the league. Barttorvik’s leaderboard with the third best defensive rating.

Keep an eye on the Razorbacks, 2nd in our standings, Auburn on Tuesday, a game where they will be the underdogs. This may be the time to buy Arkansas futures contracts.

Connecticut is a nasty team that keeps you working for 40 minutes, but their lack of players beyond point guard RJ Cole is starting to show in the conference game.

The team scored 55 points at home against an inexperienced Creighton team and were then outmatched by Villanova, leading to two lane losses. These numbers look solid for the Huskies, a 26 per KenPom in offensive efficiency and a 35 on defense, but they are lacking enough shot-making at the moment to be strong contenders. for Final Four.

Please respect Wyoming’s name. What a week for the Cowboys, who beat three of the Mountain West elites on their way to a banner week. The team beat Colorado State and Boise State in a tight match at home before knocking out Bang Fresno on the road in a game they controlled from the start.

Huntsman Maldonaldo is a terror defending at 6’6″ and is the team’s main ball handler while Graham Ike is the biggest man no one talks about. Trust me, no one wants to. saw this team arrive in March.

Murray State hasn’t lost since Dec. 22 at Auburn and has squandered the Ohio Valley Conference. The team has won all 12 games in their league with two goals coming in single digits.

They are the top 50 according to KenPom on both sides of the ball, underpinned by their top 10 strike recovery stats and top 40 turnover ratio. This is another team that no one wants to see in March.

Honorable Mention: Loyola Chicago, UAB, Wake Forest, Oregon

All of Reed’s college basketball plays can be watched hereHis best bet for college basketball is 49-43-3 for +4.3 units.