2010 West Coast Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/03/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the 10th year in a row, the Gonzaga Bulldogs won the West Coast Conference regular-season title, as they finished 12-2 within the league. The Bulldogs are out to repeat in this tournament after winning the 2009 event, which was held at a neutral site for the first time ever. Orleans Arena in Las Vegas will once again serve as host to the 24th-annual WCC Tournament, an eight-team event that gets underway on Friday.

The Saint Mary's Gaels ended up 11-3 and earned the second seed, while the University of Portland Pilots are locked in as the third seed courtesy of their 10-4 league mark. San Francisco and Loyola Marymount both finished 7-7, with the Dons grabbing the fourth seed and the Lions the fifth. Santa Clara, San Diego and Pepperdine all had 3-11 marks and the Toreros ended up as the sixth seed, the Broncos seventh and the Waves at eight. The winner of this event earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

The WCC Tournament gets started on Friday with the fifth-seeded Loyola Marymount Lions facing the eighth-seeded Pepperdine Waves. The Lions got healthy and played well down the stretch, winning five of their last seven games, including an upset of Gonzaga. The team's 16 overall wins are its most since capturing 18 in 1995-96. Loyola has won this event three times, with the last coming in 1990. As for the Waves, they started conference play with three straight wins before losing their last 11 contests. Pepperdine however, does own a 27-19 all-time mark in this event and that includes three titles.

The first round will conclude on Friday with sixth-seeded San Diego clashing with seventh-seeded Santa Clara. The Toreros are the only team, aside from Gonzaga, to win this event in the last 11 years, capturing titles in 2003 and 2008. San Diego ended a six-game slide with a win over Pepperdine in its finale and split two meetings with Santa Clara. Speaking of the Broncos, they carry a three-game losing skid into the postseason. Santa Clara owns a 24-21 record in this tourney and won its last title in 1993.

The quarterfinals will begin on Saturday and fourth-seeded San Francisco will await the winner of the Loyola Marymount/Pepperdine matchup. The Dons tied Loyola Marymount at 7-7, but swept the Lions during the regular season, giving them the fourth seed and a first-round bye. San Francisco, which knocked off Gonzaga in late January, is in search of its first tourney title since 1998.

In the second quarterfinal round game, the third-seeded Pilots will tussle with the survivor of the San Diego/Santa Clara pairing. Portland tied the school record of 10 WCC victories set during the 1994-95 season, as it won five of its last six bouts. The Pilots, who earned their first national ranking in 50 years earlier on in the campaign, are just 8-21 all-time in this event.

The top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs will make their much anticipated debut when they take the floor in the first game of the semifinal round on Sunday. Gonzaga has won 12 of the past 13 WCC regular-season titles, including the last 10. The Bulldogs are now tied with UNLV (1983-92 Big West) and Connecticut (1951-60 Yankee Conference) for the second-longest conference regular season title winning streak in NCAA history. Gonzaga has won this tourney a record 10 times and they are 35-13 all-time in the event. The Bulldogs have made 12 straight championship game appearances, winning the title nine of those times, including an 83-58 trouncing of Saint Mary's last year.

The second-seeded Gaels earned a bye into the semifinals and will need just one win to reach their second straight title game. Despite three championship game appearances in the last six years, the Gaels have won just one title and that came in 1997. The team is paced by Omar Samhan, the leading scorer (21.5 ppg) and rebounder (11.1 rpg) in the conference.

Betnosports NCAA Basketball Betting News


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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

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 this sportsbook “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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