Conference play begins tomorrow for the West Coast Conference and hopefully we'll see a little rhyme and reason for a change. As usual, Gonzaga, BYU, and St. Mary's will be the stalwarts and if Portland gets healthy, they can upset a few games too.
I've got three games I'm playing, but only one from the WCC and it's the marque game of the day.
#539 Gonzaga -5 at #540 BYU at 3pm PST
#8 Gonzaga is good at everything. In fact, they are very good at everything. BYU is hard to beat at home, but when you can't stop anyone and allow 74 points to your opponent, it tells me that defense isn't your number one concern. Add to that a dinged up Haws and I just don't see the depth to stay up with the Zags who will wear you down. The Zags only loss was in OT at Arizona, but they have some impressive wins vs SMU, and @UCLA. This one will set the tone for the season and I expect Gonzaga to be very sharp, focused, and deliberate. As they say, good defense isn't hard to do, it just involves effort, and when your opponent expends all their energy on offense, there's a good chance you'll win.
Also, the last five times these teams have played they've gone under the total(s) 145.5, 152, 158.5, 145, 149.5. I guess the public expects a shootout every time these two play.
Take Gonzaga -5
a
#549 S. Utah at # 550 UNLV at 7pm PST
UNLV just had their best win in the last 10 years beating #3 Arizona 71-67 Tuesday night. Everything went right for the Rebels. So we've got a big win celebration combined with Xmas and in comes the lowly S. Utah Thunderbirds. And on deck UNLV starts conference play at the always tough Wyoming. Overnight, the Rebels have been anointed with a ranked team status, that is if you believe the 19 points they are going to lay. S. Utah is no slouch. All five starters have returned and they've played well (relatively) against Kansas State, E. Kentucky, Boise, and are coming off a win vs. S. Carolina State. I'm not saying S. Utah is a world beater, but this is a much bigger game for them than it will be for UNLV and given Coach Rice's inability to keep his kids focused from game to game, this should be a big letdown spot for the Rebels with Wyoming on New Year's Eve and Kansas on January 3rd. We're going to get forty minutes of play out of the t-Birds. I'm not sure about UNLV. I like S. Utah +19 in this one.
A
#563 Colorado State -2 at #564 New Mexico State at 6pm PST
#24 CSU is undefeated and take their streak to 5-8 NMS. I don't have a lot to say about this game other than the Rams got a big scare the other day when they gave up 5 points in the last few seconds to squeak out an 85-84 win at Denver. And everyone that bet on CSU got screwed big time. Lesson learned. Play both halves until the horn sounds. CSU is the better team in every phase. The line seems low and it may be a trap as CSU opens conference play at home vs Boise State on New Year's Eve, but I think they take care of business here and keep the streak alive. I like CSU -2
As always, these are just my opinions so please do your own analysis before taking my or anyone's advice on who you should bet on.
Good luck.
Conference play is here so let's buckle down and get money!