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2019 Big West Conference Tournament Odds: UC Irvine the Odds-On Favorite

Ryan Bolta

by Ryan Bolta in College Basketball

Updated Apr 13, 2020 · 8:05 PM PDT

Max Hazzard dribbling
Max Hazzard and UC Irvine are the top seed and odds-on favorites in the 2019 Big West Conference tournament. Photo by Twitter user @LaDailyNews.
  • UC Irvine (27-5, 15-1) had the best record in the Big West Conference
  • The Anteaters are the clear favorites heading into the conference tournament
  • Should bettors go chalk or ride an underdog?

The Big West Conference tournament tips off Thursday, March 14th, at the Honda Center in Anaheim and concludes two days later (Saturday, March 16th).

Oddsmakers see top-seeded UC Irvine (15-1 Big West) as the clear favorite.

2019 Big West Conference Tournament Odds

Big West Conference Tournament Odds (Mar. 11)
UC Irvine -170
UC Santa Barbara +350
Cal State Fullerton +700
Hawaii +900
Long Beach State +1500
UC Davis +2200
Cal State Northridge +2700
UC Riverside +6100

UC Irvine draws no. 8 UC Riverside in the first round, while no. 4 Hawaii faces. no. 5 Long Beach.

On the bottom half, no. 2 UC Santa Barbara meets no. 7 Cal State Northridge and no. 3 Cal State Fullerton battles no. 6 UC Davis. But note that the bracket is reseed for the semis. So if UC Irvine advances, they get the luxury of facing the lowest-seeded team remaining.

2019 Big West Tournament Bracket

2019 Big West tournament bracket.
2019 Big West tournament bracket.

The Best Bet in Big West?

There are times to get creative when you’re betting, but this is not one of them.  The Big West Conference tournament is where you go chalk and stare at your bank account waiting for the deposit.

When the tournament futures were released, the Big West was one of the first I looked at knowing how much I like UC Irvine.  The -170 price tag seems high, but I was actually surprised it wasn’t shorter.

There’s little threat to the Anteaters in this tournament; they finished with a 15-1 record in the conference and won the regular season title by five games.

In the quarters, they’ll take on UC Riverside, who are listed at +6100.  Assuming they cake walk through that game, their next opponent will be no better than Hawaii, a team that was one game over .500 in conference play.

They only need to win three games to capture the title and they’ll be massive favorites in two of them.

Even if Santa Barbara makes the final, they’d still be considerable favorites in that game, as well. The Anteaters beat Santa Barbara twice, are ranked 81 spots better at KenPom, and haven’t lost since mid-January. When/if they make the finals, they’ll be riding a 15-game win streak.

Santa Barbara is a mere 4-4 in its last eight.

Depth The Biggest Advantage For UC Irvine

The most amazing stat for UC Irvine is that they dominated league play and racked up 27 total wins despite having a leading scorer who averaged only 12.1 points per game.  Max Hazzard led an offensive crew that often rotated who would take home the player of the game title.

It can make bettors uneasy, but the fact is, opposing coaches have a very tough time game planning when they never know who will step up.

The team also doesn’t have a player averaging more than 3.0 assists per game; it is the ultimate committee approach.

Take that as a positive, not a reason to fade them.  Any bet placed on an underdog in this conference should be viewed as a lottery ticket.  There’s fun in having those sometimes, so if you want to sprinkle action on others in the conference, by all means have some fun.

The smart play, though, is taking the mega-favorite that you can get for only -170.

SBD’s NCAA conference tournament coverage:

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