Western Athletic Conference Tournament Odds, Preview, and Pick
- The Western Athletic Conference tournament will begin with two quarterfinal games Thursday, March 11, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.. The championship game of the six-team event is scheduled for Saturday night
- Nos. 1-2 seeds Grand Canyon and Utah Valley, which each won nine conference games, received byes into the semifinals
- Third-seed New Mexico State has won seven of the last eight WAC tourneys and reached the finals in all eight
The Western Athletic Conference tournament will open Thursday, March 11, with the two quarterfinal games of the six-team tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The championship game is scheduled to be played Saturday night (March 13th).
Editor’s note: no sportsbooks had released pre-tournament futures as of March 8th. The table below will be updated if and when WAC Tournament outrights are posted.
2021 WAC Tournament Odds
| Team (Seed) | Odds |
|---|---|
| Grand Canyon (1) | TBD |
| Utah Valley (2) | TBD |
| New Mexico State (3) | TBD |
| Cal Baptist (4) | TBD |
| Seattle (5) | TBD |
| UT Rio Grande Valley | TBD |
Odds unavailable as of March 8th, 2021.
Top seeds Grand Canyon (15-6, 9-3) and Utah Valley (11-10, 9-4) received byes into Friday’s semifinals in this one-bid league. Only the top-six finishers in the nine-team league qualified and one, Chicago State, cancelled the rest of its season in December because of coronavirus concerns.
Because of COVID-19 scheduling issues, Grand Canyon and Utah Valley were declared co-champions of the WAC even though the Antelopes had a better winning percentage. Grand Canyon received its first No. 1 tournament seed since becoming eligible to compete in 2018.
Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew guided the Antelopes to the top seed in his first season in the program after replacing Phoenix-area legend and former Phoenix Suns player Dan Majerle.
Drew, of course, has a special place in NCAA Tournament history. Drew sank a game-winning 3-pointer to lift No. 13 seed Valparaiso to a last-second. 70-69 victory over No. 4 seed Mississippi in the first round of the 1998 tourney, and he had a second-straight 22-point game to lead the Crusaders to an 88-83 overtime victory over Florida State in the second round. They lost to Rhode Island in the Sweet Sixteen.
The Bigs Reach the Top
Grand Canyon and Utah Valley made it to the top of the WAC by relying on two of the tallest frontline combinations in NCAA Division I.
Utah Valley’s 6-foot-11 sophomore center Fardaws Aimaq, a transfer from Mercer, is averaging 14.5 points per game and leads Division I with a 15.1 rebounds-per-game average. He is second in Division I with 4.3 offensive rebounds per game.
Aimaq set and reset the school’s single-game rebounding record this season, with 20 against Wyoming and 25 against Dixie State. He is joined by 6-10 senior Evan Cole, a transfer from Georgia Tech. Cole is averaging 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds for Mark Madsen’s team.
Aimaq has 14 double-doubles, tied for fifth in Division I.
Grand Canyon is led by senior big men 7-foot Asbjorn Midtgaard, a transfer from Wichita State, and 6-10 Alessandro Lever. They have helped the Antelopes hold opponents to 38.2% shooting, second in Division I.
Midtgaard is averaging 14.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while Division I with a 71.2 field goal percentage. Lever is averaging 14.1 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Each frontline had its way when the teams split a two-game series at Grand Canyon to end the regular season last weekend
The Wolverines got 20 points from Cole and had a 45-32 rebounding advantage in their 59-55 victory Friday. Grand Canyon got 31 points and 20 boards from Midtgaard and Lever and had a 37-27 rebounding edge in a 74-64 victory that clinched the No. 1 seed Saturday.
Midtgaard has double-doubles in six of his last seven games.
Top Seeds Have Outside Threats, Too
While Utah Valley likes to play inside-out, its leading scorers are perimeter players Jamison Overton and Trey Woodbury.
Overton is averaging 15.9 points per game and is shooting 51.4% from the field. Woodbury, who had 16 points in the Wolverines’ Friday victory at Grand Canyon, is averaging 14.7 points.
Antelopes points guard Jovan Blacksher is averaging 11.1 points and 5.1 assists per game.
California Baptist and Seattle collapsed in the paint to counter Midtgaard and Lever, and each came away with a series split in the two weeks before the Utah Valley set.
Scheduling for the Committee
Both Grand Canyon and Utah Valley had the NCAA Tournament selection committee in mind with their bold non-conference schedules.
Grand Canyon played Nevada, Arizona State, San Francisco and Colorado. The Antelopes beat Mountain West Nevada by 10 and lost to the other three by no more than 10.
Utah Valley made the rounds of the Beehive State early, playing BYU, Southern Utah, Utah and Weber State along with neighbor Wyoming, losing all five to account for a 1-5 start.
Do Not Sleep on New Mexico State
Although this does not appear to be a vintage New Mexico State group, picks against the Aggies (10-7, 7-6) at your own peril. It is hard to argue with their recent success in Las Vegas.
The Aggies have made eight straight WAC tournament finals and have won seven, with an average victory margin of 17.3. They beat Grand Canyon 89-57 in the 2019 finals and were the No. 1 seed in 2020 before the tournament was cancelled.
Gone are the likes of Pascal Siakam and Trevelin Queen ,but the Aggies have won five of their last six games. They split a home series with Utah Valley and lost two at Grand Canyon in the regular season. They had played one game after a 28-day program pause before the Antelopes’ series.
The perimeter-first Aggies are averaging 8.5 3-pointers per game and have 47 in their last five. Guard Jabari Rice (13.5) is their leading scorer.
Others in the Field
Seattle (11-10, 4-5) has the WAC’s two leading scorers in 5-10 guard Darrion Trammell and 6-6 wing Riley Grigsby and has split series with Grand Canyon and Mew Mexico State. Trammell is averaging 20.6 pints and Grigsby is averaging 18.3. and both are averaging two 3-pointers per game.
Cal Baptist (13-9, 6-6), in its first WAC season, is led by 15.7-point scorer Ty Rowell and 10.0 rebounder Gorjok Gak.
Grand Canyon and Utah Valley are the class of the league. Both were made better by tough non-conference games, but Utah Valley is just a little more balanced. As difficult as it is to go against Drew in the postseason …
The pick: Utah Valley (odds TBD)
Jack has covered college and professional sports for various Arizona media outlets since the 1980s and has written for the Associated Press, USA Today and Baseball America, among others. He staffed the 2015-17 World Series and has staffed four Super Bowls.
