Week 17 of the college basketball betting season, means the end of the regular season the beginning of tournament season. In the final week of the regular season, the conferences have their tournaments, to determine the top teams, and consequently the top teams to qualify for the March Madness betting picks tournament. On paper, the inter-conference tournaments allow bettors the opportunity to determine which teams to lay their money on. Here is a look at where the final AP 25 standings went wrong as Championship Week gets underway.
Every year, two teams close out the AP 25 polls headed in opposite directions, as one team is considered overrated while another is underrated. This week, the UNLV Rebels of the Mountain West Conference and the Louisville Cardinals of the Big East share those titles. Essentially, UNLV is this season’s BYU, as they have come out of seemingly nowhere, to put together an impressive season. At 24 and six, the Rebels are supposed to be the best in the Mountain West. However, as we saw a few games ago against the New Mexico Lobos, when faced with decent opposition, UNLV tends to struggle mightily. Meaning to say, as bookie software enthusiasts, should we really be buying the hype surrounding UNLV?
Nevertheless, regardless of our concerns, this is a very good UNLV team, maybe the best in the schools history. At 24 wins and six losses, the Rebels have won games against big opponents. For example, the Rebels shocked the NBA world in the early part of the season, when they not only defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels, but they flat out destroyed them. In that game, which they won 90-80, the Rebels showed that their perimeter shooting can keep them in any game. Yet, the trouble, with UNLV, is that they play too much of a run and gun style, which in turns bites them on the defensive side of the ball. As we near closer to the March Madness Tournament, this may get to be a problem.
On the other hand, the Louisville Cardinals can’t buy any love from the AP 25 system rankers. Despite owning a 22 and seven record overall, and 10 and six record within the ever daunting Big East, the Cardinals find themselves ranked 19th in the nation. The Cardinals are a very underrated team, as they opened the year with a 12 game winning streak, before tailing off. Then, more recently, the Cardinals won six in a row, before losing by one to then top seed in the country and archrival, the Syracuse Orange. In fact, in games against top seed Kentucky and second seed Syracuse this season, the Cardinals have lost by a combined seven points. For bettors, this should indicate, that the Cardinals can play with anyone in the nation, and should be a threat as March Madness opens in less than two weeks.
