Missouri Valley Conference Odds: Drake Solid Favorites

Bulldogs Return Top 4 Leading Scorers From Last Year

The Missouri Valley Conference odds show Drake as the team to beat. The Bulldogs return a lot of the key players from last year’s 24-10 team. The Bulldogs are a solid offensive team who will slow things down.

Southern Illinois and Bradley are the next two choices, followed by Indiana State and Murray State. The Sagarin college basketball ratings have the Bears as the No. 2 team in the conference. The MVC is rated the No. 12 conference in the country by Sagarin. Eight teams are rated between 70 and 150, so there is decent balance in the MVC.

DRKEDrake Bulldogs

The Missouri Valley Conference odds on Drake are -110, as the Bulldogs return the top four scorers from last year’s squad. All four averaged 10 points or more, so the Bulldogs have plenty of scoring coming back. The team’s leading rebounder, Garrett Sturtz, is one of those four, as is assist leader Roman Penn. The Bulldogs will be a veteran team, with three of the four key returners being seniors.

Drake became the the latest stop for transfer Sardaar Calhoun, who can provide a spark at either end of the court. He previously played for Florida State and Texas Tech before arriving in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Bulldogs will be in the bottom third of NCAA teams when it comes to pace. Coach Darian DeVries has a style that’s worked and Drake isn’t about to change now. Drake is better offensively than defensively but they can play a little bit of ‘D.’

Bulldogs ran off nine straight spread losses in a row. Drake finished the year just 12-21 ATS.

For bettors, the question is if the Missouri Valley Conference odds of -110 offer any value. The Bulldogs can be slightly overrated at times, as was the case early last year. The NCAAB lines were giving the Bulldogs a little too much respect. As a result, after Drake covered its first lined game, the Bulldogs ran off nine straight spread losses in a row. Drake finished the year just 12-21 ATS.

The Others

SIUSouthern Illinois Salukis (+470):

The Salukis return the ‘Big Two’ of Marcus Domask and Lance Jones from last year’s disappointing 16-15 team. Domask is a good one, leading Southern Illinois in scoring, rebounding and assists last year. Jones, the team leader in steals, was No. 2 in scoring from last year’s squad. The Salukis are a strong defensive team, but you also have to score. And outside of Domask and Jones that could be a problem for Southern Illinois, which averaged 64.0 points last year.

BRADBradley Braves (+600):

The Missouri Valley Conference odds on Bradley are +600 and that might be asking too much from last year’s 17-14 squad. The Braves did finish strong in conference play, going 9-3 down the stretch after a 2-4 start. But Bradley did lose its top two scorers and leading rebounder from a year ago. Bradley doesn’t have any big starts but it does have eight or nine players who should make solid contributions. The Braves are better equipped to handle the college basketball injuries that seem to occur better than most in the MVC.

INSTIndiana State Sycamores(+1000):

The Missouri Valley Conference odds on the Sycamores are +1000, so the team is a bit of a longshot but should be fun to watch. Indiana State is going to look to push the ball and the team has the guards to play up-tempo. Leading scorers Cooper Neese and Cameron Henry return and Courvoisier McCauley transfers in from DePaul. Indiana State will be better than last year’s 11-20 (4-14 MVC) squad, but asking it to win the conference is going to be a tall order.

MURRMurray State Racers (+1000):

The Missouri Valley Conference odds of +1000 on the Racers are reflective on how much talent Murray State lost from last year. The Racers were 18-0 in conference play but their top three scorers and many others have moved on. Murray State welcomes back coach Steve Prohm, who spent six years at Iowa State after leading the Racers to a 54–10 conference record 2011-15. Murray State has just two returning players to go with seven transfers and five freshmen.
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