Big Sky Conference Tournament Picks, Odds & Schedule 2023
- The Montana State Bobcats are +150 favorites to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament
- Right behind them as the second betting choice at +180 are the Eastern Washington Eagles
- Below, see the 2023 Big Sky Conference Tournament odds and predictions
In recent years, the Big Sky Conference has seen dominance from Montana State and Eastern Washington. Oddsmakers don’t see that changing during this year’s Big Sky tournament.
Defending champions Montana State have been established as the +150 chalk to win the tourney. A close second in this betting market is Eastern Washington. The Eagles, champions of the 2021 tourney, are assigned a betting line of +180.
The Montana Grizzlies, winners of a record 11 Big Sky tournament titles, are the third betting choice at +500.
2023 Big Sky Conference Tournament Odds
| School | Odds |
|---|---|
| Montana State | +150 |
| Eastern Washington | +180 |
| Montana | +500 |
| Weber State | +900 |
| Sacramento State | +1200 |
| Idaho State | +2500 |
| Northern Colorado | +3000 |
| Portland State | +4000 |
| Northern Arizona | +4000 |
| Idaho | +15000 |
The Big Sky Conference tournament is not the place to be backing underdogs. In eight of the last 11 events, the #1 seed has won the title. The other two tourneys in that span were won by the #2 seed. You have to go all the way back to 2010, when Montana won as the #4 seed, to find a year where banking on upsets paid dividends.
Both Montana State and Eastern Washington are being assigned betting lines of +300000 in the March Madness odds. Each of the last four Big Sky Conference tournament finals have featured at least one of the Bobcats or Eagles as participants. In the projected March Madness bracket, Eastern Washington is set as the #15 seed in the Midwest Region.
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Big Sky Conference Tournament Format
The top six seeds in the Big Sky Conference tournament receive byes that automatically place those schools into the quarterfinals. Of the four remaining conference schools, #10 seed Idaho plays the #9 seed Northern Arizona, while the #8 seed Northern Colorado faces the #7 seed Portland State for the two remaining quarterfinal spots.
🏆🎉#GoEags #LetItFly pic.twitter.com/zVTG1quIXF
— EWU Men's Basketball 🏀 (@EWUMBB) February 19, 2023
Those games go on Saturday, March 4 and like all four quarterfinal games, will be streamed on ESPN+. The two winners advance to meet the top seeds – Eastern Washington and Montana State – in quarterfinal action on Sunday, March 5.
The other two quarterfinals are slated for Monday, March 6, with semifinals contested the following day. The first semifinal will be broadcast by EPSNU and the other on ESPN2.
The March 8 championship game at 11:30pm ET is also slated to be shown on ESPN2.
Two Is Eastern Washington’s Lucky Number
Both of Eastern Washington’s recent wins in the Big Sky tournament – in 2021 and 2015 – were earned as the #2 seed. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they enter this year’s tourney as the top-seeded school.
The Eagles were rolling along on the nation’s longest win streak of 18 games when they lost their final two games of the regular season at Idaho State and at home by a 79-74 count to Montana State.
A balanced attack carries the Eagles. They have no player in the top 10 Big Sky scorers, but two in the top 13. Forward Steele Venters (14.87 points per game) is 11th in conference scoring. Two places below him is forward Angelo Allegri (13.50 ppg).
They also have three players situated in the top 11 in conference rebounding. Forward Casey Jones (5.72) is ninth, forward Cedric Coward (5.60) is 10th and Allegri (5.53) is 11th.
Defense is the enemy of 22-9 Eastern Washington. While KenPom has the Eagles at #64 in adjusted offense (112.0), they’re a dismal 212th in adjusted defense (107.6).
Bobcats On Roll
Meanwhile, the 22-9 Bobcats are 75th in adjusted defense (100.4). Last year, Montana State won the Big Sky Conference tournament title for the first time since 1996.
Guard RaeQuan Battle paces the Bobcats offensively. He’s scoring 17.1 points per game, which is fifth overall in the conference. Forward Jubrile Belo is seventh in conference rebounding (6.1). Guard Darius Brown is third in assists (4.69) and leads in steals (1.97) and assists to turnover ratio (2.96).
Biding our time before Boise… ⏳#GoCatsGo | @RaeQuanBattle pic.twitter.com/8b00bmvgqV
— Montana State Men’s Basketball (@MSUBobcatsMBB) March 1, 2023
Eastern Washington leads the Big Sky in scoring offense (77.0 ppg). Montana State leads the conference in scoring defense (66.3). But while the Bobcats are third in scoring offense (74.0), the Eagles are sixth in scoring defense (71.1).
What’s the old saying? Offense sells tickets. Defense wins championships.
Pick: Montana State Bobcats (+150)
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An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
