NCAA basketball: Conference tournament trends

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March Madness is more than just the NCAA Tournament. 

In Part 2 of a three-part series on conference tournament betting systems, I offer up angles for tournaments in action over the next seven days (March 2-8), with at least one 60%-or-better angle from each conference. Next week I’ll focus on the remaining tournaments.

 

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These angles focus on three key areas: byes, rounds and line ranges. As a general thought, bettors should understand that byes in conference tournaments are statistically significant, especially when the team on a bye is believed to be better than its opponent. In conference tournaments, favorites with the advantage of a bye are 474-159 SU and 298-254-16 ATS (54%) over the last eight years. Remember that stat anytime you think an underdog might have picked up some momentum from beating a lesser team in a play-in round.

ACC

— Round 2 favorites are 14-6 SU and 14-6 ATS (70%) since 2017. Interestingly, outright winners are 20-0 ATS in Round 2.

— Semifinal underdogs are 11-16 SU but 19-5-3 ATS (79.1%) since 2007.

America East

— Double-digit road underdogs in the quarterfinal round are 8-2-1 ATS (77.8%) in the last 11 games.

Atlantic Sun

— Since 2014, single-digit underdogs are 16-10 SU and 20-5-1 ATS (80%), while double-digit favorites are 28-2 SU and 17-12-1 ATS (58.6%).

Big South

— Since 2014, single-digit favorites are 44-13 SU and 37-18-2 ATS (67.3%), including 13-1 SU and 11-3 ATS (78.6%) in the opening round.

Big West

— Keep an eye on the numbers 7 and 7.5. Since 2014, favorites of 7.5 points or more are 15-0 SU and 9-5-1 ATS (64.3%), while underdogs of 7 points or fewer are 23-10-3 ATS (69.7%).

— Semifinal favorites are just 6-8 SU and 3-9-2 ATS (25%) since 2014, although UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine won in that role last year.

Colonial Athletic

— This is a strange one with a tight requirement: In the last seven years, favorites of -2.5 to -3.5 are a perfect 18-0 SU and 17-0-1 ATS (100%).

— Semifinal favorites are 13-3 SU and 10-5-1 ATS (66.7%) since 2014.

Conference USA

— Favorites of 7 points or fewer are 31-13 ATS (70.4%) since 2014.

— The Under is 21-7 (75%) since 2018.

Horizon League

— In a surprising twist, underdogs of 6 points or more against teams off a bye are 9-4 SU and 10-3 ATS (76.9%) in the last 13 games.

— The last eight semifinal games have gone Under the total (100%).

Metro Atlantic Athletic

— In the last 13 games with a total of 154 points or higher, the Under has gone 12-1 (92.3%).

— Favorites of 2 points or fewer are 10-2 SU and 10-2 ATS (83.3%) since 2014, with the Under going 9-3 (75%) in those games.

Missouri Valley

— Underdogs of 6 points or fewer are 24-16-1 ATS (60%) over the last eight years, including 13-3 ATS (81.2%) in the quarterfinal round.

— Over the last eight years, the Under has gobe 26-11 (70.3%) on totals of 131.5 points or higher.

— Favorites in the championship game have won 10 straight outright (9-0 ATS since 2013).

Northeast

— Underdogs in the championship game are 13-2 ATS (86.7%) in the last 15 games, including 11 outright upsets.

— Seven of the last eight quarterfinal games went Under the total (75.0%).

Ohio Valley

— Underdogs in the championship game are 10-1 ATS (90.9%) over the last 11 years.

— Eight of the last 10 semifinal games have gone Under the total (80%).

— Favorites of 3 points or more are 10-21-1 ATS (32.3%) over the last seven years.

Patriot League

— Double-digit underdogs are 15-7 ATS (68.2%) since 2012, although the last 13 have lost outright.

— Quarterfinal games are 19-9 (67.9%) to the Over in the last seven years.

Southern

— Single-digit favorites in the opening round are 18-7 SU and 18-7 ATS (72%) since 2011.

— Semifinal games are 11-5 (68.8%) to the Over in the last eight years.

Summit League

— Since 2014, totals of 154 points or more are 8-2 (80.0%) to the Under and totals of 130 or fewer are 9-2 (81.8%) to the Under.

Sun Belt

— Teams with the bye advantage are 28-6 SU and 21-11-1 ATS (65.6%) over the last eight years.

— Over the last six years, favorites are 27-10-1 ATS (73%) in early rounds (through the quarterfinals).

Western Athletic

— Favorites are 39-4 SU and 27-16 ATS (62.8%) over the last seven years, including 21-9 ATS (70%) on single-digit lines.

— Favorites in the championship game were on a 9-0 SU and ATS run before Grand Canyon (%plussign% 1) won last year.

West Coast

— Underdogs of 20 points or fewer against a team that had a bye in an earlier round are 15-5-1 ATS (75%) in the last 21 games.

— Quarterfinal underdogs are 14-6-2 ATS (70%) since 2015.

— Favorites in the semifinal and championship rounds are 16-8 ATS (66.7%) over the last eight years.

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Steve Makinen
As one of the original founders of StatFox, Steve Makinen has been in the business of sports betting and data analysis for almost 25 years now. In his time in the industry, Steve has worked in a variety of capacities on both sides of the betting counter, from his early days of developing the StatFox business, to almost a decade of oddsmaking consulting for one of the world's leading sportsbooks, to his last seven years as Point Spread Weekly and Analytics Director with VSiN. Steve has always believed that number crunching and handicapping through foundational trends and systems is the secret to success and he shares this data with VSiN readers on a daily basis for all of the major sports.