WCC Futures Odds Betting – St. Mary’s Gaels Better Than You Think

The WCC has belonged to the Gonzaga Bulldogs since the turn of the century. Mark Few took over the program reins for the 2000-01 season and the rest’s been history. A whopping 21 regular season and 18 conference tournament titles later, it’s the Zags who are always looked upon as the class of the West Coast Conference.

That once again remains the case this college basketball betting season with BetRivers Sportsbook lining Drew Timme and his mates the decided favorite to take home a 26^th regular season title come the end of February. A rare conference chalk to hold up its end of the bargain, it certainly looks like the Zags will once again have a final say with it getting out to a 14-3 start that includes an unblemished 3-0 mark in conference play.

But what kind of fun is it to lay so much chalk with the favorite; especially with it the owner of a sieve for a defense this season! The short answer is it’s not, so let’s put the current WCC futures odds under the microscope and see if we can’t pinpoint the team that could potentially end the Zags’ rein. The following are my favorite, underdog, and longshot selections to win the West Coast Conference regular season title.

Bet WCC Futures Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook

Favorite to Bet: St. Mary’s +250

The Gaels have already made me a good chunk of change this season betting Randy Bennett’s kids on a gamely basis. They covered the number against Houston in a tough five point loss on a neutral court, and also took it to San Diego State in a game I couldn’t believe they weren’t favored to win. I’ve only faded them against Santa Clara on the road and lived to tell about it.

If you’re a fan of defense, you’re going to love what St. Mary’s brings to the hardwood every passing game. It allows just over 57 points per game (No. 7) to rank No. 5 overall in defensive efficiency per KenPom. Good luck scoring against the Gaels close to the basket (No. 15) as well as from beyond the arc (No. 52). But it’s not just the defense that finds frosh Aidan Mahaney and his mates ahead of the Zags in most metric rankings. The offense can fill the hoop from long range as well evidenced by its near 38 percent success rate (No. 48). On top of all that, the team hits the glass at both ends of the court and takes decent care of the basketball (No. 64).

The two regular season meetings with Gonzaga will be must-see TV; especially the season finale in “The Kennel!”

Underdog to Bet: San Francisco +10000

The Dons are likely most remembered for their marathon overtime loss against Murray State in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament. Though pieces from that team have since departed the program, San Francisco still sports some electric guard play in the forms of Khalil Shabazz and transfer Tyrell Roberts with the former tickling the twine for a team-high 15.2 points per game and the latter converting over 44 percent of his shots. Big man Zane Meeks rounds the trio out with 12.1 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.

San Francisco was one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the nation a season ago. While it still hoists them up with reckless abandon (No. 5), it’s only converted at a 34 percent clip (No. 184). If and when the shots start dropping more consistently, the Dons can and will shoot anyone out of the gym. As evidenced by that 97-60 skunking of Arizona State when it drained 15 of 32 attempts! This team already played to within a bucket of Gonzaga, and just tallied its first WCC win by taking down Loyola Marymount in an extremely competitive game. San Francisco could be a player should the offense continue coming around!

Longshot to Bet: Santa Clara +15000

The Broncos made me a good amount of loot at the tail end of last season after surging to a 9-2 ATS record over its final 11 games. It then went on to cover both games in the WCC tournament before falling to St. Mary’s in the semis. Though Jalen Williams, PJ Pipes, and Josip Vrankic are no longer on the roster, Herb Sendek still has this program on the up-and-up with Illinois transfer Brandin Podziemski making an immediate impact by leading the team in scoring (18.7 PPG), rebounds (8.5 RPG), and assists (3.3 APG).

The Pomeroy Ratings have Santa Clara listed as the fourth strongest team in the conference behind BYU and ahead of San Francisco. It’s a well-balanced team that hits the glass at both ends of the floor and can shoot the 3-ball (No. 75). It owns Top-100 KenPom wins against Iona, UC Irvine, and Boise State and already covered both matchups against St. Mary’s and Gonzaga. It’s odds of winning this conference shouldn’t be nearly this inflated!

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