NCAA Bubble Watch Betting Odds: Which Borderline Teams Make It?
Some Good Teams Likely to Get Left Out
College basketball’s regular season is winding down. Each team has just a few games before the conference tournaments roll around. For most teams, the conference tournament will bring about the end of the season.
For others, the conference tournament is just a stepping stone to appear on the NCAA March Madness bracket. However, for some teams, the conference tournament is one last chance to impress the selection committee. Thirty-two teams receive automatic invites to the Big Dance, leaving 36 at-large bids up for grabs.
While some teams are pretty much guaranteed to make the tournament regardless of what happens in the conference tournaments, others are on the fence. Most NCAA futures deal with the NCAA Tournament winner or odds to make the Final Four, there area few wagers available on the bubble watch betting odds.
Northwestern Wildcats
The Wildcats are given pretty good odds of appearing on the NCAA March Madness schedule. If you want to bet Northwestern makes the tournament, you will be asked to lay -300. You’ll receive +220 if you correctly bet the Wildcats don’t make the tournament.
Northwestern is 19-8 on the season, but does have a couple of tough games remaining. The Wildcats played an extremely soft non-conference schedule and have a terrible loss to Chicago State on the books. But the Wildcats are 10-6 in the Big Ten Conference, which helps their chances.
A win over Purdue definitely helps. The KenPom rankings have Northwestern No. 43 in the nation. The Wildcats will have to pick up a few more wins if they want to advance past the conference tournament.
Providence Friars
The next team on the bubble watch betting odds list is Providence. The NCAAB odds on Providence making the tournament are -130. It’s even money if you want to bet the Friars don’t make the tournament.
The Friars are 18-9 on the season and don’t have any really bad losses. They do have a couple of nice wins over Marquette and Creighton. But Marquette is just 9-7 in conference and has UConn, Marquette and Villanova on the remaining schedule.
The KenPom rankings have Providence as the No. 53 team in the country. The Friars will probably need at least 21 wins, counting the conference tournament, to have a good shot at making the tournament. Providence can play defense but needs the offense to step it up down the stretch.
St. John’s Red Storm
The final team on the on the bubble watch betting odds list is St. John’s, who are -154 not to make the tournament. A correct wager on the Red Storm advancing to the tournament will return +116. St. John’s is definitely right on the bubble.
The Red Storm have the highest KenPom ranking of any of the three NCAAB teams. But they also have the worst record, going 16-12 so far and 8-9 in conference college basketball games. The Red Storm has a challenging game with Butler on Wednesday, but then two very winnable games against DePaul and Georgetown.
It’s going to take at least 20 wins for St. John’s to get consideration. So that means the Red Storm will likely have to win a few games in the conference tournament. St. John’s is solid offensively, but will need the defense to play a little better to increase its NCAA Tournament chances.
For NCAAB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
