Big Sky
This is my favorite conference to bet on in college basketball. There are so many actionable travel spots and differences between the teams that wagering opportunities are present all of the time.
Two teams have new head coaches, as Sacramento State goes with Michael Czepil and Eastern Washington rolls with former Long Beach State bench boss Dan Monson. Czepil was the associate head coach under Patrick and a move that probably won’t move the needle much. At least not as much as the Monson hire, as he led the 49ers to the NCAA Tournament after it was announced he and the program would part ways.
Eastern Washington already played fast anyway, but expect them to ramp it up under Monson, as LBSU was in the top 30 in adjusted tempo in six of the last seven seasons per Bart Torvik. That adds another wrinkle to this conference, where usual suspects Montana and Weber State are expected to be the best teams.
In an era where keeping top talent is hard, Eric Duft was able to keep Blaise Threatt, Dyson Koehler, and Alex Tew at Weber State. He lost top scorer Dillon Jones and right-hand man Steven Verplancken, but Idaho State transfer Miguel Tomley will ease the blow. Expect a balanced scoring attack from the Wildcats again.
As far as Montana goes, Travis DeCuire lost two of his top four scorers, but the Grizzlies have a lot of efficient 2-point shooters. What they’ll have to find are some guys that can make outside shots. Northern Colorado is another team in this range, but I see them as a big regression candidate after winning 10 games by six or fewer points and shooting 56.4% on 2s to finish 15th in the nation.
To me, the team to watch in this conference is Idaho. Alex Pribble enters his second season after serving as an assistant at Seattle under a great defensive head coach in Chris Victor. Injuries hurt in Year 1, but this is a better roster for Year 2.
