2021-22 Big West Basketball Preview
Big West Basketball Preseason Predictions
WagerTalk college basketball handicapper Adam Trigger offers his thoughts on the upcoming 2021-22 Big West Basketball season. Which teams are being underrated by the betting market? Which teams should you stay away from? Check out Adam’s Big West Basketball betting preview.
The 2021-22 college basketball season tips off on Tuesday, November 9th, and Adam Trigger wants to introduce himself with a big discount! For a limited time, you can get the opening seven days of the college hoops season for ONLY $39, giving you access to ANY college basketball selections played during opening week, including ANY 5% Best Bets on the hardwood! Stay on top of the latest College Basketball updates direct from Las Vegas!
Big West Basketball Betting Preview
We left off on Friday with our preview of the Pac-12. We have one more conference on the west coast before we start to work our way east and once again it’s UC Irvine and Santa Barbara as the odds-on favorites to win the Big West. UC Riverside broke out last season and it looks like the consensus Top 3 (in no particular order) will be UC Irvine, Santa Barbara and UC Riverside. The bottom of the Big West is bad but there are some teams in the middle that I think might make some noise. Let’s take a look at a couple of them here.
Big West Basketball ‘BET ON’ Teams
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors – UC Irvine, Santa Barbara and UC Riverside are all very good teams but I think all will be priced as such so it’s tough to call any of them “bet on” teams against the number right now. With that being said there’s a fourth team in the Big West that belongs in that upper echelon, it’s the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and I think the ‘Bows are poised to have their best team since making it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament back in 2016.
Eron Ganot is a fantastic coach, he went 28-6 and won a game in the NCAA Tournament in his first season at Hawaii and the only reason he hasn’t matched that mark since is he had to deal with a postseason ban in 2017 and reduced scholarships in 2018. Hawaii also had to deal with huge COVID restrictions on the island last year so it’s been lots of adversity for Ganot and his Rainbow Warriors but they have come out the other side with Hawaii’s best team since Ganot’s first season. Hawaii lost some guys from last year but I don’t think any were key pieces and it paves the way for Longwood transfer Juan Munoz to start at the point guard position and Samut Avea to return as Hawaii’s “go to” guy after opting out last year. Hawaii brings in 6’10” forward Kamaka Hepa from Texas and, while he didn’t play much for the Longhorns, he should find himself starting up front in Honolulu. Seven footer Mate Colina is back which means it’s 6’0” spark plug Munoz surrounded by a ton of size which will allow Hawaii to compete with the abnormally large teams in the Big West. Bernardo Da Silva only played in a couple of games before he was hurt last season so that’s another capable player back that will likely come off the bench and bolster Hawaii’s depth. Ganot is a stud of a head coach and when I look at this Hawaii roster I legitimately think he can play 10 guys regularly and not hurt the quality of the product on the floor. This Hawaii squad is as well rounded as any team in the Big West, the ‘Bows have size, depth and a fantastic coach and I would not be at all surprised if Hawaii is the shock winner of the Big West this season.
Cal State Fullerton Titans – Fullerton had a disaster of a season last year, they played 16 games, none of which they played particularly well, and the entire year was pretty much decimated by COVID. Fullerton also had a number of injuries, there was no way the Titans were going to compete with the hand they were dealt but 9th year head coach Dedrique Taylor has some nice transfers and an actual roster and because of that I expect Fullerton to be way better and way undervalued in 2019. Senior Tray Maddox Jr could have easily transferred out but he brings his 15.9 points per game back to lead Fullerton into this season. Fullerton also lands transfer E.J. Anosike from Tennessee, his brother played at Siena about a decade ago so I’ve followed him ever since he got to college (he started his career at Sacred Heart) and I expect him to return to Sacred Heart levels of production (15.7 points per game in 2019) as a starter for Fullerton.
Dante Maddox Jr (not related to Tray) returns his 11.9 points per game and Damari Milstead transfers in from San Francisco and could very well play his way into the starting lineup. Fullerton has two or three guards coming off the bench that are all probably good enough to start which means the Titans have the opposite of what they had last season and that’s legitimate depth on the roster. Fullerton is going to take a ton of threes but Anosike gives the Titans the legitimate post threat they lacked last season. Anosike is also ultra-aggressive and will add some defense and rebounding to a Fullerton team that was horrible in both areas last season. I also expect Tray Maddox to improve defensively as he’s now a legitimate pro prospect (whether it be the G-League or overseas). The bottom line here is Fullerton is so much better than they were last season, they have a veteran coach that will know how to put together this team and I expect the Titans to be undervalued and a beast against the number in the Big West.
Big West Basketball ‘BET AGAINST’ Teams
Cal-State Bakersfield Roadrunners – Well here it is, another case of a team that was a “BET ON” team for me last season becoming a “BET AGAINST” this year. I absolutely nailed Bakersfield last season, I knew their style of play was going to be tough to play against for teams unfamiliar with them and that was the case as Bakersfield overachieved to a 9-7 conference record in their first season in the Big West. We also cashed a couple of times with Bakersfield as a dog in non-conference play but now Bakersfield is a known commodity entering 2021-22 and I think the Roadrunners will be overvalued because of it. Bakersfield loses five players from last years team that all contributed and I don’t think Rod Barnes found sufficient replacements to make Bakersfield better than they were last year. Barnes picks up David Walker from South Alabama and Antavion Collum from Ole Miss, the former left South Alabama last season after playing just six games and the latter failed to make any sort of impact at Ole Miss.
Forward Shawn Stith is a load in the paint but he’s coming off a torn ACL so it’s tough to tell if Stith will be at full strength to start the season. Barnes filled out the rest of his roster with JUCO transfers so it’s possible there are some hidden gems in there but unlikely any will be as good as they players Bakersfield lost from last season. I felt like Bakersfield had to “out effort” teams to win games last season, the type of effort last year’s Bakersfield squad showed is tough to teach and I don’t think we will see the same out of a different mix this year. I’m seeing Bakersfield as high as 4th and 5th in previews but I’ll be shocked if this Bakersfield team can pull off a top 5 finish. Bakersfield simply doesn’t have the personnel this season to hang around with the big boys in this conference, the Roadrunners were good against the number last year but this year will be overvalued and I expect Bakersfield to be a profitable fade.
Other College Basketball Conference Previews
West Coast Conference Preview
WAC Conference Preview
Big Sky Preview
Mountain West Conference Preview
Pac-12 Conference Preview
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— Adam Trigger (@TopFlightSI) October 21, 2021
Conference Tournament Betting
The 2021-22 Big West Basketball Tournament is a long way away, but it’s never too early to sharpen up some of your betting skills. Minty Bets sat down with Marco D’Angelo and Ralph Michaels to discuss some college basketball conference tournament betting tips, and how those games are different than regular season contests.
2021-22 NCAA Basketball National Championship Odds
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has just released their updated 2021-22 NCAA Basketball National Championship odds, and Gonzaga remains the 6-to-1 favorite, followed by Texas (10-to-1), Kansas (12-to-1) and UCLA (12-to-1). Once the season tips off, WagerTalk’s live odds screen will feature up-to-the-minute betting lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books.
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