As Conference Basketball Tournaments Begin, Explore Our Arizona Sports Betting Guide
As March draws near, it is the time for men’s and women’s college basketball to take center stage.
This year’s March Madness festivities will showcase in-state universities vying for conference championships in the Pac-12, Western Athletic Conference, and Big Sky Conference.
This week, Arizona sports fans have a variety of betting options available, from the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State University Sun Devils to the Grand Canyon University Antelopes and Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks.
Let’s examine the performance predictions of oddsmakers for the four Division I universities in the state of Arizona as they head into their respective conference tournaments.
Arizona Wildcats
The reigning Pac-12 champions will return to Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday with high expectations to secure the conference’s postseason championship.
The Wildcats, boasting a 27-3 record, are the favored team for betting on BetMGM Arizona (-125), DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona, and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona (-140).
The Wildcats have secured seven Pac-12 Tournament titles in total, achieving their most recent triumph in 2018. This win marked their third championship in just four years.
Arizona was knocked out by USC and Washington in the early stages of the Pac-12 tournament. The Wildcats made the decision to skip both the 2021 Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments by enforcing a self-imposed postseason ban.
In his debut season as coach, Tommy Lloyd has the Wildcats primed to contend for a championship this weekend in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, Arizona has even bigger dreams. Per Caesars Sportsbook, the Wildcats are currently tied with Kentucky for the second-highest odds to claim the national championship at +700, trailing only Gonzaga at +375.
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Sun Devils are currently on an impressive winning streak as they head into their conference tournaments, a rare accomplishment that sets them apart from other teams in the nation.
ASU, despite their 14-16 record (10-10 in conference play), is entering Las Vegas with a four-game winning streak, having triumphed over Colorado (82-65), Utah (63-61), California (71-44), and Stanford (65-56).
Arizona State has not won a Pac-12 conference title in either the regular season or postseason, but they are currently ranked in the middle of the pack for the 2022 season.
Both BetMGM Arizona and DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona have the Sun Devils at +8000 odds to win the Pac-12 tournament, putting them in seventh place on the odds leaderboard.
Bobby Hurley’s team, as listed by FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona, has odds of +5000 to win the conference tournament, placing them seventh among the 12 teams in the league.
If ASU can win four consecutive games and stage a comeback, the program will clinch its first conference title since claiming the 1975 Western Athletic Conference championship.
Grand Canyon Antelopes
Once again this year, the only Arizona university to make it to the Big Dance is competing with second-year coach Bryce Drew leading the way.
Grand Canyon concluded the regular season with a 22-7 record, falling just one game behind New Mexico State, Seattle University, and Stephen F. Austin in the WAC standings with a conference record of 13-5.
The ‘Lopes are set to compete against the top teams in the WAC at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas from Thursday to Saturday.
Drew’s team is the second favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona (+330) and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona (+310), with the Aggies of New Mexico State in the lead.
The ‘Lopes enter the 2022 WAC Tournament on a four-game winning streak, having secured victories over Chicago State (85-64), Sam Houston (67-41), Utah Valley (68-57), and Dixie State (70-53) to close out the regular season.
This week, Grand Canyon is hoping to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in its nine seasons as a Division I team.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Among the four Arizona state schools, Northern Arizona, a member of the Big Sky Conference, has the best chances of securing a spot in the Big Dance according to sports betting apps.
The Lumberjacks have only reached the NCAA Tournament twice in their program’s history, accomplishing this in 1998 and 2000 with former Pittsburgh and UCLA head coach Ben Howland leading the way.
The team from Northern Arizona University had a lackluster season, ending with a 9-22 record and sharing the bottom spot in the Big Sky standings with Idaho State at 5-15. They are set to play against Eastern Washington in the first game of the Big Sky Tournament on Wednesday.
Both the Lumberjacks and Bengals of Idaho State are currently at the bottom of the Big Sky conference standings with +25000 odds to win the championship on DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona.
The team is currently tied with ISU for the last spot on FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona, with both teams having odds of +50000. This means that Lumberjacks fans could potentially see a significant return on any unlikely bets placed on their team.
While we acknowledge that March may bring unforeseen circumstances, it is crucial to continue to have ambitious aspirations.
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Author
Peterson Christopher, with over seven years of experience covering sports and sports betting in Arizona for outlets such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly, and the Green Valley News, is now the lead writer at yengols.com.
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