2021-22 Horizon League Basketball Preview
Horizon League Basketball Preseason Predictions
WagerTalk college basketball handicapper Adam Trigger offers his thoughts on the upcoming 2021-22 Horizon League Basketball season. Which teams are being underrated by the betting market? Which teams should you stay away from? Check out Adam’s Horizon League 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!
Horizon League Basketball Betting Preview
We start to work our way east and land in a conference that stretches from Pennsylvania to Kentucky to Illinois to Wisconsin and keeps growing. It’s the Horizon League which years ago was Butler “and everyone else” but Butler is long gone and the Horizon has expanded to what’s amounted to a 12 team mid-major league with tons of parody. Wright State is the odds-on favorite to win the league while Milwaukee has vaulted up the rankings thanks to potential lottery pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. There’s also 3-4 other teams that are probably good enough to win the Horizon this season which should create tons of great betting opportunities and I’ll try to outline some of them here!
Horizon League Basketball ‘BET ON’ Teams
Detroit Mercy Titans – I’m running it back with Detroit Mercy. Detroit was a team I grew fond of and started to bet on down the stretch last season and the Titans blossomed winning nine of their last 10 games and losing a heartbreaker they should have won against Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals. Detroit played Michigan State and Notre Dame close in what was limited non-conference action (which was the case for everyone with COVID last season), the Titans finished 12-10 overall and 10-6 in Horizion League play and were easily the most improved team in the league (8-23 the year prior). This season Detroit has arguably the best player in the conference in Antoine Davis and four senior transfers, all of which could crack the starting lineup. Detroit returns the 6’11” Noah Waterman as well, the junior averaged 11.9 points per game last season and has the ability to step out and knock down shots. Head coach Mike Davis, once upon a time, took Indiana to a National Championship game and has had success at every school he’s coached at. Davis is good enough to keep Detroit respectable on his own but if the transfers pan out the Titans could win this league.
The biggest grab from the transfer portal for Detroit is DJ Harvey who will hope the third time is the charm after failed stops at Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. Harvey had some big time games as a freshman and sophomore during his time at Notre Dame but sat out a year and never really caught on at Vanderbilt (it also didn’t help he was on a terrible Vanderbilt team). The Horizon is a step down from the ACC and the SEC so Harvey’s talent will be elite in this league and he should thrive. Harvey also comes in knowing he won’t be the main scoring option (that’s obviously Antoine Davis), he should have freedom to play inside and outside in this offense and could be one of the breakout players in the league this season. I’m familiar with transfer Prince Oduro, he started his career at Siena (my alma mater) and showed a ton of promise as a freshman before transferring to Mississippi State (likely because Jimmy Patsos was driving the Siena program into the ground at the time). Oduro never caught on in Starkville and the same can be said for his next stop at South Florida. Oduro simply wasn’t getting any minutes (probably because he wasn’t strong enough to play in the post in those leagues) but he should do just fine taking a step down in the Horizon. Kevin McAdoo (Bradley) and Jordan Phillips (Texas-Arlington) provide front court depth and if Mike Davis can get these guys on the same page Detroit will cash plenty of tickets and have a chance to win this league.
Robert Morris Colonials – Remember, we are betting against the number so I’m not looking at teams that will win a ton of games as much as I’m looking at teams that will be value against the spread. I have to take a shot on Robert Morris as a “bet on” team less because I think they will be a contender (they won’t crack the Top 5 in this league) and more because I think the masses are completely leaving them for dead in the wake of AJ Bramah transferring to Nevada. Bramah was an absolute stud during his time at Robert Morris and averaged 21 points per game in 12 games for the Colonials last season. Losing that type of output is a big deal but I don’t think it’s as big of deal here since Robert Morris has essentially replaced their entire roster with players from the transfer portal.
Head coach Andy Toole got some good ones too, he brings in junior Michael Green who averaged 16 points per game and was the best player on Bryant last season and will surround him with a slew of players who didn’t pan out at major programs. The most productive of the transfers is Rasheem Dunn, he averaged 9.4 points per game for a respectable St John’s team and he and Green should create a RMU backcourt that has a ton of speed. I remember Ferron Flavors from his time in the MAAC, he was a productive player averaging 12.3 points per game for Fairfield back in 2017 but decided to sit a year and transfer to Cal Baptist where he was productive as well averaging 13.5 points per game in 2019. Flavors couldn’t get minutes at Oklahoma State last season but he’s back at the mid-major level and should excel as a starter here. Justin Winston played 20 minutes per game for St Bonaventure in 2019, he bailed on last season but now finds himself at Robert Morris as a potential starter. Three other D1 transfers and a JUCO transfer all could play their way into the starting lineup and Kahliel Spear and Kam Farris are holdovers from last year’s team that are both solid and could elevate their play being surrounded by better players. This is Oklahoma State just on a smaller scale, the superstar (Bramah) is gone but Toole loaded his roster up with capable transfers that have a ton of upside. If Robert Morris can get the chemistry right the Colonials will be the surprise outfit in the Horizon and cash a ton of tickets in the process.
Horizon League Basketball ‘BET AGAINST’ Team
Youngstown State Penguins – Yet another example of one of my “bet on” teams from last year becoming a “bet against” this season. I’ve actually been high on Youngstown State for a couple of years now but a lot of that had to do with Darius Quisenberry who transferred to Fordham this past offseason. Quisenberry was the best player on this Youngstown State team by far and the Penguins weren’t very good last season when Quisneberry was out of the lineup. The reason for that is when Quisenberry wasn’t in the lineup the Penguins lacked creativity and settled for shots which didn’t work out well for one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country. Dayton transfer Dwayne Cohill should add some firepower to the Youngstown State offense but this roster looks very similar to last season (less Quisenberry) and I think the Penguins might run into some of the same issues here.
Sophomore Shemar Rathan-Mayes is a stud at the point guard position but he’s not a consistent scorer which means there’s a lot of questions regarding production from the Youngstown State backcourt. Garrett Covington returns, an upperclassman who is solid at both ends of the floor, but again just not a consistent shooter and reliable source of offense night in and night out. Youngstown State’s success will likely rely on a host of non D1 transfers and four freshman and I think it’s unlikely the Penguins find instant production out of more than one of these guys this year. Youngstown State needs offensive production from every position to win because the Penguins were atrocious defensively last year (save Covington) and this lineup suggests that will be every bit the case again this season. Quisenberry was this Youngstown State team and we saw just how much the Penguins missed him when he was out of the lineup last year. Quisenberry has moved on from a Youngstown State team that was at the bottom of the Horizon when he arrived as a freshman, without him the Penguins are likely back at the bottom and we should be able to cash a bunch of tickets fading them along the way.
Other College Basketball Conference Previews
West Coast Conference Preview
WAC Conference Preview
Big Sky Preview
Mountain West Conference Preview
Pac-12 Conference Preview
Big West Conference Preview
Summit League Preview
Big XII Conference Preview
Missouri Valley Conference Preview
Conference USA Preview
Big Ten Preview
🏀 #NCAAB special 🏀
I’m going to have a ton of action the first week of #CollegeBasketball & right now you can lock in week 1 of #CBB for just $39
That’s about the cost of one 5% play and I’ll have at least one of those during this week
Up @WagerTalk https://t.co/rFCFyPWDoI
— Adam Trigger (@TopFlightSI) October 21, 2021
College Basketball Betting Basics
College basketball totals can be one of the most frustrating, yet rewarding, things to handicap in the sports betting sphere. WagerTalk’s Kelly Stewart and Drew Martin help you navigate the finer points of how to handicap college basketball totals. In this round of college basketball betting tips, Drew and Kelly break down five key factors for betting college basketball, including pace of play, changes in tempo and efficiency stats.
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.
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
