If you gave serious bettors a choice, more than a few would take the Conference Tournament season over the NCAA Tournament.
Why?
Well, the next two weeks are when the market gets stressed. Condensed schedules. Neutral courts. Revenge angles. Teams playing three games in three days. Books are forced to hang numbers quickly — and pricing mistakes show up faster.
That’s where preparation matters.
Our College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide is now live on VSiN.com, and we’ll cover all 31 tournaments as they tip.
Each preview will include:
* Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings
* Conference Tournament Trends
* Full brackets and schedules
* A prediction to win the automatic NCAA bid
The goal is simple: Get you actionable information 48 hours before each tournament begins so you can attack openers and futures before the market settles.
Adam Burke and Zach Cohen will be on duty, publishing previews as soon as odds are posted. The first tournament begins Monday with the Horizon League (which was wrapping up regular-season play on Saturday night.)
👉 Bookmark this page and check early and often for the previews
Updating ‘The Angle’
Let’s clean up some things after a busy Saturday in college basketball:
>The Angle, the invention of Follow The Money producer Luke DiVasta, had a tough day, going 1-3, but still a healthy 39-13 (75 percent) overall. Luke says he might have a play today. If he does, you’ll find it here.
>ChatGPT’s analysis of Makinen’s College Basketball Analytics Report went 2-1 with Clemson +1.5 (W), Tennessee -4.5 (L) and Arkansas-Florida Over 167.5 (W).
>Texas handicapper Paul Stone went 5-0 to take the first-round lead in the Circa College Hoops Challenge. >>Standings.
Back to today’s action . . .
Greg Peterson’s Sunday college basketball card leans heavily into tempo mismatches, turnover edges, and several totals shaded too high. From North Texas–UAB to Michigan State–Indiana, the board is filled with slow-paced profiles and defensive metrics that point toward value.
Later this morning on our college basketball page: Josh Appelbaum will interpret the money movement.
Get real-time steam alerts from the DonBest Screen. Sign up now for a 7-day free trial at go.donbest.com. Use the promo code VSIN10 for 10% off your initial subscription.
Quick Hits
NBA: Zach Cohen‘s Best Bets and Steve Makinen‘s Analytics Report will hit around mid-morning on our NBA page.
NHL: Jonathan Davis sent me a pick for today’s action: Blues/Wild Over 5.5 (-130) – 3 unit play
Horse Racing: VSiN’s “Mr. Ed” Sehon and the Daily Racing Form’s Mary Rampellini handicap today’s chalky card at Oaklawn, which features the Rebel Stakes, a Kentucky Derby prep.
NASCAR: Road specialist Shane Van Gisbergen is the favorite (+120) in today’s race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, but Steve Makinen has two-time winner Tyler Reddick at top of his final simulation.
Steve’s Best Bets:
Top 5: Reddick, Van Gisbergen, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Kyle Larson
Top underdogs to consider: Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland
Favorites to struggle: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselwoski
More coverage on our auto racing page.
Soccer: Nigel Seeley has EPL picks for two 9 a.m. ET games. I checked in with Nigel on Saturday because he is in Dubai for a tennis tournament and his hotel wasn’t too far from Iranian bombing.
