2021-22 Pac-12 Basketball Betting Preview
Pac-12 Basketball Preseason Predictions
WagerTalk college basketball handicapper Adam Trigger offers his thoughts on the upcoming 2021-22 Pac-12 Basketball season. Which teams are being underrated by the betting market? Which teams should you stay away from? Check out Adam’s Pac-12 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!
Pac-12 Basketball Betting Preview
I am still working my way West to East, the focus has been on the mid-majors to start so let’s take a look at a power conference and dive into the Pac-12. It’s UCLA and Oregon then everyone else again this year, it’s an abyss once you get past the top two and that should mean plenty of value in the rest of the Pac-12 this season.
Pac-12 Basketball ‘BET ON’ Teams
Washington State Cougars – Once again I think the top half of the Pac-12 will be inconsistent and weak on a national scale and that’s going to open the door for some fringe teams, one of them being Washington State. I talked about Kyle Smith briefly when discussing San Francisco, he was the guy that turned the Dons into a contender and he’s about to do the same in year three in Pullman. Washington State showed signs of breakthrough last season, the Cougars finished their Pac-12 regular season schedule 5-5 with wins over Oregon and UCLA and three of their five losses in that span came by three points or less. Smith has a number of key guys back from last year and the offense should be vastly improved thanks to a pair of transfers in the backcourt that were big time scorers for their former teams. Michael Flowers transfers in from South Alabama after averaging 21 points per game for the Jaguars last season while Tyrell Roberts comes to Pullman after sitting out last year and averaging 19.2 points per game for UC-San Diego back in 2019-20.
Noah Williams and his 14.1 points per game return to Pullman this year and this should be a far more balanced and consistent Wazzou offense than last year when everything revolved around Issac Bonton. Washington State was outstanding defensively last season so the fact the Cougars might be able to score consistently this year give this Wazzou team insane upside against what I believe to be a manageable Pac-12 schedule. Washington State has a pair of 6’10” sophomores in Efe Abogidi and Dishon Jackson that made an impact as freshman and should make big strides as sophomore starters this year. Washington State also has some kids on the bench with big time potential so there’s some nice potential depth in Pullman this season as well. UCLA and Oregon are obviously good but I look at teams like Arizona, USC, Arizona State and Colorado and I don’t think any of these teams are necessarily better than Washington State. The Cougars have been at the bottom of the Pac-12 so long they will be priced that way, and we should be able to get to the window with Wazzou a bunch this season.
Pac-12 Basketball ‘BET AGAINST’ Teams
UCLA Bruins – The Pac-12 came out of nowhere to have a great NCAA Tournament but many of those teams didn’t have great regular seasons and I think it has the Pac-12 overrated heading into 2021-22. There was no more improbable run than UCLA making it to the Final Four, I expect the Bruins to be solid this year and contend in the Pac-12 but UCLA will enter the season as a Top 10 team nationally and I think that’s going to make the Bruins a profitable fade against the number. UCLA gets Johnny Juzang back, the junior guard became a household name during the NCAA Tournament last season and should be one on the top players in the PAC 12 this season. Backcourt mate Tyger Campbell also became a star last March and he’s back to pull the strings as the point guard for this UCLA offense. Outside of these two there’s plenty of potential on this UCLA roster but this is still a Bruins team that went 13-6 in an unimpressive Pac-12 last season and lost in the first round of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament so I think their March run had more to do with getting hot at the right time (against teams that played poorly) than it does with UCLA being one of the elite teams in college basketball.
If UCLA doesn’t pull off that comeback against Michigan State the Bruins might not be a Top 25 team entering this season so the fact the Bruins are being picked to win the Pac-12 and a consensus Top 10 team just seems like massive inflation for a team that was never “elite” at any point last season (until they inexplicably ended up in the Final Four). Again, we are ONLY concerned with what a team does against the number and, while UCLA will definitely win their share of games and be right there with Oregon at the top of the Pac-12 basketball standings, I think the Bruins will be way overvalued in the betting market. UCLA showed how good they can be when everything is clicking but it’s a long season and I expect the Bruins to be somewhere in between what they were in the regular season last year and what they were in the NCAA Tournament. The oddsmakers will price this team like John Wooden is coaching them so there should be plenty of line value and chances to cash opposing the Bruins this season.
USC Trojans – Here is another case where we have one of my “bet on” teams from last season becoming a potential fade for me this year. USC also way overachieved in the NCAA Tournament making it to the Elite 8 and a lot of that had to do with Pac-12 Player of the Year Evan Mobley leading the charge. Mobley was the best player at both ends of the floor for USC but he went 3rd overall in the most recent NBA draft and brother Isaiah Mobley, while a solid player, isn’t a viable replacement. Replacing a talent like Mobley was going to be near impossible anyway and Enfield didn’t add much to this team so what this feels like to me is last years USC team WITHOUT Evan Mobley. USC brings in Boogie Ellis from Memphis but he’s the only guy on this roster that averaged double figures in scoring last season with 10.2 points per game and the Pac-12 will be a tougher conference for him to score in than the AAC was.
Tajh Eaddy is gone from last year’s squad so USC will have to figure out the point guard position which means Ethan Anderson likely ends up in the starting lineup though he won’t give the Trojans the scoring threat that Eaddy did from that position. I don’t think USC is a bad team by any means but when I look at the Trojans next to the other teams in the Pac-12 they look like a “middle of the pack” team to me. I’m seeing USC being picked 3rd and 4th in many preseason publications and I think that lofty preseason ranking combined with their big run in last year’s NCAA Tournament will have the power rating out of whack for what is really an average USC team on paper coming into this year and should make for a good fade against the number.
Other College Basketball Conference Previews
West Coast Conference Preview
WAC Conference Preview
Big Sky Preview
Mountain West Conference 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
Conference Tournament Betting
The 2021-22 Pac-12 Basketball Tournament is a long way away, but it’s never too early to sharpen up some of your betting skills. Kelly Stewart sat down with Gianni the Greek and Bryan Leonard 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.
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!
