The futures are a great tool for sports gamblers, hell, they’re essential. But if you dig beyond the futures, the BoDog lines, the injury updates and status reports, what you’re left with when deciding and betting on who’s gonna win it all is pure unadulterated sports fan emotion. And no place, nowhere on this planet, is that more evident than in college basketball betting. The college hoops fans are also arguably one of the most knowledgeable groups of sports fans/gamblers, so there’s something to be said for those picks beyond the gut feelings. But let’s say we had to make a pick right now, without looking at lines or anything else, who would it be?
Here’s who’s at the top of my list – Kansas. Always hurts to say it as a Mizzou fan, but let’s give this extremely talented group some credit. Their experience will put them over the top this year, and you can expect another year of that mezmerizing deep blue shining through at the end of the Final Four. Look no further than Sheron Collins and Cole Aldrich. You could, but you don’t need to.
How about Kentucky? They could surprise some people and get through to the Final Four, but that’ll probably be as far as their run would go this year. Kentucky will probably start off good but not great, and then come together in January when conference play begins.
Who else is in that “top tier” of teams? Duke, no, not this year folks. My group is Nova, MSU and, believe it or not, Texas. Look for the Longhorns to sprint up the Big 12 standings and finish at least second, ahead of MU, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Damion James plus experience and some depth at point guard mean Texas is going deep in the tournament in 2010. UL and Arizona are flashy, exciting, well-coached teams that’ll find a nice home somewhere in the Top 25, but aren’t quite championship material yet.
Am I crazy for not having mentioned the college basketball odds on UNC yet? Aren’t they an unstoppable force in college basketball? Yeah, that was last year. Take a look at the faces that make up this year’s team and you’ll find yourself staring at a vastly different group of guys. Four major contributing members of the title team are now looking forward to playing in the NBA, and yes, they have a heck of a freshman crop coming in (ESPN rated the recruiting No. 2 in the nation), but you can’t count on that translating into wins this year.