2010 Great West Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The inaugural Great West Conference Tournament takes place at the McKay Center in Orem, Utah from March 10-13. The champion of this event receives an automatic bid to the Collegeinsider.com Tournament, as the league won't be eligible for an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament until 2020.

Earning the top seed by virtue of its 11-1 league record are the South Dakota Coyotes, who finished a stellar 20-9 on the year and come into this event riding an 11-game win streak. USD has won at least 20 games in each of the past seven seasons. The Coyotes, who rank at the top of the GWC in scoring offense (79.2 ppg), scoring margin (+6.8), field goal percentage (.478) and field goal percentage defense (.408), won't see their first action in the tournament until the semifinals on Friday. South Dakota has three double-digit scorers in the form of Tyler Cain (15.1 ppg), Roman Gentry (13.6 ppg) and Jake Thomas (12.6 ppg). Cain has been a monster this season, as he leads the conference in field goal percentage (.665), rebounding (10.2 rpg) and blocked shots (84).

Houston Baptist went 9-3 in conference during the regular season to claim the second seed in the tourney, but the Huskies won only one other game all year to finish a dismal 10-20. HBU, which has won four of its last five coming into this event, boasts the top scorer in the league in Andrew Gonzalez (18.8 ppg), and the team is averaging 70.2 ppg to rank second in the Great West. Unfortunately, the Huskies give up a league-worst 79.1 ppg and they also rank last in turnover margin (-3.40).

The No. 3 seed went to North Dakota after it went 5-7 in conference to match the record achieved by fourth-seeded Utah Valley, but the Fighting Sioux won the tie-breaker by beating the Wolverines twice during the regular season. UND closed out the 2009-10 campaign by losing two in a row, but the team has won four of its last seven games overall. Only two players are averaging double figures in the scoring column, as Travis Bledsoe (14.8 ppg, league-leading .441 three-point FG percentage) and Travis Mertens (10.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg) help the Fighting Sioux put up 62.0 ppg, which helps explain the club's dreadful 8-22 record.

As mentioned, Utah Valley finished two games under .500 in league play, and the team won just 12 of its 29 games on the year. The Wolverines, who are the host team of this event, have dropped five of their last six games coming into the postseason, with their lone win being a 65-57 decision against visiting NJIT on March 4th. UVU is the top defensive team in the Great West, yielding just 65.4 ppg -- a shade more than it produces (63.9 ppg). Jordan Swarbrick leads the team at the offensive end with his modest 12.7 ppg.

The No. 5 seed was awarded to UT-Pan American, which went just 5-26 on the year and 4-8 in conference. The Broncs have tasted victory just twice in their last 12 games, the most recent of which came in the regular-season finale at North Dakota on Saturday. UTPA doesn't have one double-digit scorer in the fold, and is averaging a league-worst 61.0 ppg as a result. Defensively, the Broncs are giving up 72.7 to rank sixth in the Great West. Foes have found it relatively easy to hit their shots, doing so 48.7 percent of the time, while also having their way on the glass (-7.7 rebounding margin) -- both of which have the team ranked last in the conference.

NJIT picked up the sixth seed after going 4-8 in league play this season, matching the conference records of both Chicago State and UTPA. The Highlanders, who went just 1-59 the previous two seasons, limp into this event having lost three straight and five of their last six overall, the most recent setback coming in an 83-49 shellacking at regular-season champ South Dakota on Sunday. Despite averaging just 61.1 ppg (sixth-worst in the Great West), the team features three double-digit scorers in the form of Jheryl Wilson (14.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Chris Flores (13.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Isaiah Wilkerson (12.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg). NJIT is shooting a league-worst 37.8 percent from the field, but at 66.9 ppg allowed, the Highlanders rank second in scoring defense.

Chicago State is the No. 7 seed, earning that distinction after going a mere 9-22 on the year and as mentioned, winning just four of its 12 league bouts. The Cougars have just two players averaging double digits in the scoring column, with Carl Montgomery (13.3 ppg) and Christian Wall (12.8 ppg) doing what they can to help the team achieve its goals. Unfortunately, CSU is putting up just 62.4 ppg to rank fifth in the conference, and the team sits sixth in field goal percentage (.381), which includes a league-worst 26.9 percent showing from three-point range. The one area the Cougars have excelled in this year is on the glass, as they lead the GWC in rebounding margin (+1.3).

Utah Valley takes on UT-Pan American in the first game of the event, and the teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season, with each winning at home. The winner will move on to face top-seeded South Dakota in the semifinals on Friday.

Houston Baptist will battle Chicago State in the quarterfinals, and the Huskies won both regular-season matchups with the Cougars, the last being an 85-83 overtime affair in early February.

North Dakota and NJIT lock horns in the third game of the quarters, and the teams split their two games during the regular season with the home team winning each time.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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