| 2014 | 61-44-0 (+32.00) |
| 2015 | 63-56-0 (+18.00) |
2 plays are to win 2 units. Chatt is a 2 unit bet.
#741 Wright State +5½ -106 over SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
7:00 PM EST. It would be quite easy to become enamored with a basketball team like Southern Illinois, who comes in off a 22-win season in 2015-16 and is primed to replicate that success in 2016-17. However, Southern Illinois, despite their impressive record, saw their season crash and burn when they were ousted by Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in the First Round, showcasing the fact the record meant nothing once they were involved in games of consequence. The Salukis are also tasked with finding a replacement for their leading scorer in 2015-16, as guard Anthony Beane, Jr. has graduated from the university. The uncertainty surrounding this outfit and the effect of that early defeat has yet to be assessed on the hardwood.
The Raiders enter on an entirely different note. Though Wright State failed to qualify for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament like Southern Illinois, the Raiders were far closer in proximity. The Raiders finished at 22-13 after losing in the Horizon League Tournament Championship Game to UW-Green Bay. Prior to that loss, the Raiders were piecing together an impeccable run by taking down conference heavyweight Oakland in route to their Championship Game appearance. Wright State also managed to do what no other team could do in the Horizon League or in America for that matter, which was defeat the traditional top dog of the conference, Valparaiso twice in the same season. Wright State also opened 2015-16 with a win over Belmont, another household name in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Wright State will enter this game with heightened enthusiasm, as they have a lot to build upon since last year. The Raiders are committed to taking their program to the next level, as they have undergone a regime change in the off-season and are eager to return two young and talented starters at guard to lead the way in 2016-17. This team has all the makings to upset the alchemy of the Horizon League and contend for the hardware again as they did last season. This venue is the perfect contest for Wright State to start out strong and with Scott Nagy coming in from South Dakota State, the Raiders also have the leadership capable to get them to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Chattanooga +149 over TENNESSEE
7:00 PM EST. Tennessee and Chattanooga have not met in four years and things have changed drastically since the Mocs and Vols last collided in Knoxville. This by-proxy rivalry brings together a defending mid-major conference champion against a middling club from a power conference. Right off the bat, this narrative often caters toward superficial prejudices. The name Tennessee when pitched against a team like Chattanooga may compel many to take the Vols by sheer virtue of familiarity. Opening day features a cornucopia of contests. A familiar name with a low price at home against a mid-major opponent likely wets the beak of many looking for a quick and easy play but Chattanooga is no cupcake. In fact, the Mocs bring back all but one starter and their versatile size and strength makes them difficult to deal with.
The Mocs dominated their way through the Southern Conference, finishing with a sparkling 29-5 record while capturing the conference hardware while they were at it. The Mocs managed to earn themselves a bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, qualifying as a 12-seed before they were summarily eliminated by the Indiana Hoosiers 99-74 in the first round. Nevertheless, the Mocs had made a name for themselves before entering the contest and a fair amount of the consensus liked Chattanooga as the most viable candidate to orchestrate the tournaments’ 12 over 5 upset which happens now on a perennial basis. We come to see that Power Conference teams that finish third, fourth or maybe fifth get more respect than mid-major champs like Chattanooga in post-season tournaments. Markets often play on these aforementioned biases and now more than ever these high seeds are torpedoed by low seeds on a regular basis. Similar circumstances many manifest in Knoxville without post-season implications on the line. Both teams are entering the season with a blank slate but for Chattanooga is chomping at the bit to make a splash and start off strong as they did in the 2015-16 season. A year ago, Chattanooga took to the road to face off with another middle-of-the road SEC team in Georgia and the Mocs came away with a 92-90 victory. Chattanooga also took down another March Madness qualifier in Dayton in the opening stages of their 2015-16 campaign so this team will not be shaken by Tennessee by the least. When you factor in that Tennessee finished 15-19 in 2015-16 and lost 66% of their conference games overall, it is very likely that Chattanooga may be the better team outright and is extremely undervalued in this contest by virtue of public perception alone. Keep the points, as we’re calling the upset and will play it that way.
#833 Portland State +18 -106 over ARIZONA ST.
9:00 PM EST. To begin the year, we always like to attack major conferences when they’re playing smaller conferences and the Big Sky is a great place to start. As the talent pool gets larger every year, the gap between major conferences and minor one’s decrease. The Big Sky has produced some major talent over the years (Damien Lillard comes to mind) and this year there is plenty more talent to spread around. Half of the teams in the conference won at least 10 games a year ago so there is even more value on most of them this year. For the Portland State Vikings, forward Cameron Forte (19.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG) has graduated and that means the holdovers from a year ago will need to step up to replace his contributions as the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. The good news, however, is that the Vikings boast one of the highest assist per game averages in the nation (tied for No. 12 with 17 a night), not to mention an assist-to-turnover ratio that is well above average (No. 41 in the country). Head Coach Tyler Geving can absolutely lean on his returning players to help instill ball security, especially guard Caelan Robinson, who will be one of his team's main offensive options this season.
The Sun Devils won just five games in the Pac-12 last year and just 15 overall. Gerry Blakes, the only other double digit scorer besides Tra Holder, is the main loss. Blakes continued to struggle with consistency during his senior season, but he was certainly capable of having some very good outings. Fellow starters Willie Atwood and Eric Jacobsen are gone too. Those two leave a big hole in the frontcourt. Sixth man Savon Goodman is also gone. Despite coming in off of the bench, Goodman was a very important player on the Sun Devils. ASU has a lot of new faces and Coach Bobby Hurley is still building for the future. The recruiting has been going fairly well but this team is not ready yet to be spotting points like this to any Division I opponent.
