NCAAB: San Jose State Spartan vs Nevada Wolfpack Odds Preview
The Spartans have dropped four straight and are just 1-5 ATS in their last six.Â
In case you don’t follow, the Mountain West is one of the most competitive College Hoops conferences in the country, making every game a coin flip for bettors. Tonight, the San Jose State Spartans (8-13/1-7) head to Reno to take on the Nevada Wolfpack (16-5/3-4) from the Lawler Events Center.
The Spartans are just 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 NCAAB games, while Nevada has been struggling in conference after building a 13-1 non-conference record. The Pack have failed to cover five of their last six games, making this clash more competitive than it may look on paper.
Opening San Jose State vs Nevada odds have listed the Wolfpack as a 12.5-point favorite with a total of 142.5. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. PT and can be seen on FS1. Let’s get into our San Joe State vs Nevada odds preview, starting with the Spartans.
Spartans vs Wolfpack 
Day/Time:
Location: Lawlor Events Center, Reno, NV
Streaming: Watch Live Sports
You’ll Be Hard Pressed To Find An Edge With San Jose State
It’s not the only way to handicap games, it’s probably the last resort. Of course, we’re talking about statistical analysis, and if you do a quick rundown between the two teams, it appears as if Nevada has the edge in almost every category.
However, seasoned bettors know that numbers only tell you where you’ve been and rarely tell you where you’re going. The MWC college basketball standings have nothing to do with what will happen tonight. The Spartans have dropped eight of the last 10 meetings to the Wolfpack but did manage to pull out a win in their last meeting last year in the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
That was their first win in the MWC Tournament. Don’t be fooled by the Spartans’ 1-7 conference record, they could easily be .500 with four of the eight games decided by three points or fewer, including a 3-point loss against #19 San Diego State.
They’ve lost twice in conference plays (Fresno State and Wyoming) with buzzer-beating shots. If you dig into their overall numbers, they’ve compiled a disappointing 8-13 record but are just a -7 in the points scored vs points allowed. They are led by one of the top point guards in the country, Alvaro Cardenas, ranked 17th in the nation in assists (6.1) and 19th in assists to turnover ratio (3.10).
Pack Look To Bounce Back After Embarrassing Loss
This is why you can’t just look at records and assume we have a massive mismatch on our hands. This is also why proper scheduling is important to the overall success of a team when they get into conference play.
You could make a case that Nevada’s only quality win was at the Washington Huskies as a 5.5-point underdog in their second game of the NCAAB season, but even that doesn’t look as good with Washington sitting at 12-9 overall. Of their 13 non-conference games, the Wolfpack was an underdog just twice, against the Huskies and a neutral win against TCU as a 3-point dog.
We’re not sure that helps a program that should have a few 10-point dog games in them before conference play rolls around. You set your program up for exposure and that’s precisely what happened in their last outing when they had to go to Albuquerque to face the Lobos as an 8.5-point dog.
They were simply not ready for that intensity because it was the first time they had been asked to be competitive against a team that had been properly prepared for conference play with a true road game against St. Marys (lost 72-58 as a 9-point dog) and a tough win against a good Toledo team on a neutral floor. Nevada is hoping to bounce back from a 34-point loss against the Lobos tonight.
Expect Both Teams To Play It Safe
The first thing that happens at practice when an NCAAB team gets blown out is an emphasis on defense. After Nevada allowed 89 points to New Mexico, you can bet that Steve Alford is doing just that. Nevada has been on quite the under streak, with 10 of their last 11 games and 13 of 20 overall cashing tickets.
The Spartans are the opposite (14-6 over), but they’ve had trouble finding their scoring touch of late, with just 65 points against UNLV at home and then 61 against Utah State in Logan. We don’t think you’ll see much movement on this total before tip-off, so go ahead and get the under whenever you can.
That does it for our San Jose State vs Nevada odds preview, we wish you all the best with your college basketball picks as we head straight toward the NCAA’s March Madness.
For NCAAB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
