2021-22 WAC Basketball Betting Preview

WAC Basketball Preseason Predictions

WagerTalk college basketball handicapper Adam Trigger offers his thoughts on the upcoming 2021-22 WAC Basketball season. Which teams are being underrated by the betting market? Which teams should you stay away from? Check out Adam’s WAC 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!

WAC Basketball Betting Preview

There’s a lot to unpack and a lot of teams I bet on frequently in this conference last year, some of which were in other conferences. One of my claims to fame last year was being all over Abilene Christian from literally the first day of the season, long before they became a household name during the NCAA Tournament, and the Wildcats will join the WAC from the Southland along with Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State and Lamar. Chicago State is back after canceling their season nine games in last year and New Mexico State will be back in the state of New Mexico (after COVID forced them to play in a HS gym in El Paso) and back to their usual contender status. Grand Canyon are the defending champs and the influx of Southland teams has made this 13 team conference one of the most intriguing mid-major conferences in the country. Like last year, I have big opinions in the WAC, I expect this conference to be a moneymaker again for me and here are a few of the teams I’m targeting as follow/fades.

WAC Basketball ‘BET ON’ Teams

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks – One could make an argument the best team in the Southland last season was Stephen F. Austin but we will never know because the Lumberjacks were banned from postseason play and, thus, not allowed to play in the Southland Conference Tournament. Of the four teams that come over from the Southland to the WAC, SFA is the best and I think their style of play being an unknown to the other WAC teams has the Lumberjacks undervalued as a big time contender to win this conference. Senior forward Gavin Kensmil was one of the best players in the Southland last year and will be one of the top players in the WAC this season. Kensmil averaged 15.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season, he’s a rebounding machine and SFA should hammer most teams in this conference on the boards this season.

Head coach Kyle Keller is in his 6th season as head coach, he’s taken SFA to a NCAA Tournament and would have gone in 2020 with a Lumberjacks team that was 28-3 before the tournament was canceled so he’s established and there’s precedence for his teams being elite. In addition to Kensmil, SFA starts three other seniors and a junior and have transfers in Jonathan Aku and Latrell Jossell that didn’t play at all at Texas A&M and Kansas respectively but will be in the rotation of the bench here. SFA had their historic upset win at Duke two years ago, the ‘Jacks will probably be undervalued when they play at Kansas in December and I expect the oddsmakers to have a tough time pricing SFA in their first go around in WAC play.

Seattle Redhawks – The best player in the WAC and one of the best scorers in the country is Damion Trammell Jr of Seattle and he has enough of a supporting cast where I could see this Redhawks team being way better than expected. Seattle has all five starters back and I’m actually shocked Trammell decided to return as the new transfer rules would have let him play just about anywhere this season. Trammell averaged 20.5 points per game last season and that should pair nicely with 6’7” forward Riley Grigsby who averaged 17.8 points per game last year and returns for his senior season. Seattle landed a big transfer in Cameron Tyson who averaged 6.5 points per game off the bench for a Houston team that went to the Final Four last year and Seattle should be able to rebound with Kobe Williamson (6.1 ppg and 6 rpg) and Emeka Udenyi (7.9 ppg, 8rpg) both returning. The final returning starter is redshirt senior Aaron Nettles who managed to average 10.1 points per game despite Trammell and Grigsby taking such a large quantity of the shots.

Seattle wasn’t great defensively last season, but I expect that to improve based on the fact virtually everyone is back and the Redhawks had almost no roster turnover from last year to this year. Seattle has zero history of winning which means the betting public is going to prefer the “name” teams in this conference like Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, Stephen F. Austin and last year’s NCAA Tournament darling Abilene Christian. Lost in the shuffle is exactly where we want Seattle and we should be able to find some nice value with a Redhawks team that will always have the best player on the floor in Trammell and has an outside shot to win this league.

WAC Basketball ‘BET AGAINST’ Team

Abilene Christian Wildcats – You will see this theme as we work our way through the conferences, a team that was a “BET ON” for me last year (if I was right about them) will often become a “BET AGAINST” the following year. The reasoning for that is simple, I’m typically targeting well coached teams with upperclassmen and when a mid-major has those things typically the top players graduate (or in today’s game transfer) and the good coaches end up getting poached by the bigger schools. That’s what’s happened to Abilene Christian as head coach Joe Golding parlayed last year’s incredible run into the UTEP job after a decade in charge in Abilene. Golding’s top assistant, Brette Tanner, takes over as head coach but he will have to do it without Kolton Kohl who graduated (and opted to not use the free year) and Joe Pleasant who transferred to Wichita State.

Abilene Christian did it with defense first last season but this team is undersized big time and I can see the Wildcats struggling with the move to the WAC which, across the board, has far bigger frontcourts than ACU was accustomed to seeing night in and night out in the Southland last year. Abilene Christian will still be a nightmare to play against for teams that can’t handle the basketball but teams with capable guards that can score in the post should have their way with Abilene this season. Unfortunately for Abilene, the new name recognition that comes with what they did last season is going to have the Wildcats priced as if it were last season’s team, with a new coach and no Kohl and Pleasant they just aren’t and that will make ACU a likely fade for me this season.

Im going to go conference by conference & post previews with teams I’m looking to bet on & bet against this season

I’ll post them for free @WagerTalk

There are conferences I focus on more than others but drop the ones you want ⬇️ and I’ll try to go in order of most requested!

— Adam Trigger (@TopFlightSI) October 18, 2021

Other College Basketball Conference Previews

West Coast Conference Preview
Big Sky Conference Preview

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!