CONFERENCE FUTURES EXPAND COLLEGE BASKETBALL BETTING MENU

College basketball betting fans have plenty of options but as sophisticated sports betting practitioners understand, you can never have too much of a good thing. So, when sports books offered future book betting on the winners of a half-dozen top tier hardcourt conferences, gamblers drove right to the hoop.

 

Conference futures are like any other futures in that the earlier you bet--before sportsbooks have a firm knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the individual teams--the more likely you are to catch an overlay on a team capable of winning its regular season conference crown.

 

Let's see if we can't pit our expectations against those sportsbooks numbers and uncover a few college basketball betting overlays:

 

ACC: Ho-hum, this looks like another showdown between North Carolina, the 3/5 favorite, and Duke, the 5/2 second choice. The Tar Heels have everyone of significance back from last year's 29-8 team that won the ACC regular season title with a 14-2 record so we can't blame you if you want to take a short price. The Blue Devils, on the other Nike sneaker, lost 55 points of scoring but Coach K' cupboard never is bare so 5/2 is a reasonable price for those seeking an upset. Florida State clearly is third best in the ACC but you might want more than 7/1 if you plan on betting against both UNC and Duke. Longshot: Virginia, 15/1, can light it up from beyond the arc but also has a presence in the paint in double-double machine Mike Scott.

 

Big Ten: Bet against Ohio State, the 4/5 favorite, at your own peril. Frankly, the Buckeyes, with first-team All-America Jared Sullinger leading the way, have aspirations way beyond just winning the conference title. OSU is a legitimate National Championship contender but if you're eyeing a Big Ten upset, the usual suspect is Michigan State at odds of 7/2. Michigan, 5/1, has its best team in many years and Wisconsin, also 5/1, may have college basketball's top point guard in Jordan Taylor. Longshot: Illinois, 15/1, is young but talented, a typical high risk, high reward team for those college basketball betting fans looking for a price.

 

Pac-12: Arizona, 5/4, and UCLA, 3/2, are at the top of most Pac-12 future book betting lists but the league is so well-balanced that the strategy of searching for a better price has its merits. At odds of 8/1, you definitely can put California in that category. In Jorge Gutierrez, Allen Crabbe and Harper Kamp, the Golden Bears have three of the top 10 players in the conference. Cal just needs to play a little more defense to beat the Wildcats and Bruins to the regular season title. With a very deep roster, another 8/1 shot, Washington, also is a contender. Longshot: Oregon, 15/1, improved under Dan Altman in his first season in Eugene, last year and a top recruiting class could have the Ducks looking for more.

 

Big East: The nation's largest conference (16 teams) probably has half its teams capable of winning the regular season crown. Start with Connecticut, which finished ninth in the Big East but went on to win the National Championship last year. The Huskies are 5/2 co-favorites with Syracuse, which brings back four starters from a team that win 27 games a season ago. Pittsburgh, 4/1, has the Big East's best player, Ashton Gibbs, and Louisville, 5/1, is yet another team brimming with Final Four talent. Longshot: The top four scorers return to Cincinnati, 12/1, which like many teams in the league could finish anywhere from first to eighth but is worth the double-digit price.

 

SEC: "One and done" is the theme in Lexington but the Wildcats boast yet another remarkable freshman class and few expect Kentucky, the 4/5 favorite, to be anything but a National Championship contender. But that was also the case last year when the ‘Cats finished second in the SEC so if you're looking for a better price try Vanderbilt, 5/1, which welcomes back all five starters from last season's 23-win team. Florida, 5/2, surely will attract some future book attention, especially with the best backcourt in the SEC, if not the country. But the Gators frontcourt is just average. Alabama, 8/1, is the last of the single-digit teams in the SEC race. The Crimson Tide welcomes back its top three players but there's work to be done. Longshot: Mississippi State, 10/1, doesn't have much depth but Renardo Sidney (14.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG) and Dee Bost (15.3 PPG, 6.2 APG) give the Bulldogs a great inside-outside duo.

 

Big 12: Never mind that there are only 10 teams in the Big 12 (and 12 teams in the Big Ten). Nobody likes a wiseguy. The traditional pick—always—is Kansas but at odds of 7/4, the Jayhawks are second choices behind Baylor, the 3/2 favorite to win the Big 12 regular season title. Led by Perry Jones (13.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG as a freshman last season), the Bears have the best frontcourt in the league. Kansas returns just one starter from a year ago but Coach Bill Self always seems to field an outstanding team. We won't blame you if you like Missouri at odds if 13/2. The Tigers have more experience than any team in the league and a stud in Marcus Denmon (16.9 PPG, 44.8% 3-PT). Longshot: Kansas State, 12/1, has been a contender since fiery Coach Frank Martin arrived five years ago and that won't change.

 

Utilized correctly, conference future book odds can be another lethal weapon in a player's college basketball betting arsenal.

 

  

This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering college football betting and sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com