The world of college basketball has gotten off to a rocky start in this era of Covid-19 as several top teams have had their share of challenges with positive tests within their respective programs. This should season should lead to some eventful on the court play as you never know on a given night which team is going to be at full strength. From a gambling perspective, this could arguably become one of the most difficult for bettors at places like CasinoBetting.Live to navigate. You can guarantee that folks who do their due diligence and take advantage of having great sources will be in prime position to overcome these obstacles and make a healthy amount of money this season. With that being that said, here is a quick look at a couple of the frontrunners to contend for the national title this season.
Gonzaga is the preseason favorite as they brought back a nice well-balanced squad that defeated Kansas 102-90 on Thursday. They had three players score at least 20 points, led by Drew Timme’s 25 down as they went 2-0 down at the Fort Myers Tip Off tournament. Filip Petrusev, Killian Tillie, and freshman Jalen Suggs will lead a very well-balanced team that can beat you from the inside or out on the perimeter and thus will cause a ton of matchup problems for opposing teams. Defensively, if they can shore up their field goal defense just a little bit and get that number below 40 percent then this team could become nearly unstoppable.
Baylor will be in the mix as a contender for the national championship as head coach Scott Drew has built up a team that will be led by their backcourt as Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, and Davion Mitchell are very experienced and well equipped to lead the Bears through a season like this one will be. The ability of the Bears to lock teams down defensively will go a long way towards determining their ability to overtake Kansas and end up winning the Big 12 Conference championship this season. Last year, Baylor limited teams to just 60.1 points per game and a 39.7 field goal percentage which is a definite recipe for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears got off to a great start this season as they went 2-0 out in Las Vegas as they blitzed Louisiana 112-82 and got some nice revenge against Washington on Sunday, routing the Huskies 86-52.
Villanova should be the premier team in the Big East as head coach Jay Wright has built a blue-blood level program that will always be a threat to go far in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats return four starters led by Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore in the backcourt, who combined to average 26.6 points per game between them last season. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Jermaine Samuels are going to be a problem for opposing teams down in the paint as they both averaged over ten points per game for Villanova and should be even better this season. It was an eventful opening weekend for the Wildcats at the Bubbleville tournament as they beat Boston College and Arizona State before losing an overtime battle with Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Virginia is going to be a preseason favorite to win the always tough Atlantic Coast Conference this season. Head Coach Tony Bennett is the type of leader that you would want to lead a big-time college basketball program through a pandemic season. They will have to replace Mamadi Diakite and Braxton Key, which won’t be easy as both guys were very clutch players. They will return three starters led by Kihei Clark and will get some additional offensive help from Sam Hauser, who transferred to the program from Marquette, and incoming freshmen Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Reece Beekman. Playing elite defense will not be a problem for this group as they are always amongst the best in the nation at that end of the court. Virginia split their first two games of the season as they beat Towson 89-54 and lost to San Francisco 61-60. Those two games epitomize the Cavaliers in a nutshell as their defense will allow them a chance to win every game but if they go cold shooting the ball then bets are off on a neutral court.
One other thing to keep an eye this season is the likelihood of a bubble for the NCAA Tournament. If that happens you could potentially see one of the wildest opening weekends we have ever seen in the history of the tournament. Also, a bubble scenario will put a huge premium on the ability of experienced coaches that can keep their players focused throughout the duration of the tournament.
