The close of the regular season is upon us. With that, teams are starting to get their ducks in a row and put their best foot forward in hopes of impressing in their conference tournaments as well as the NCAA tournament should they get the chance. It’s a chaotic time, so this week’s installment is designed to help you weed out some of the pretenders whose NCAA Tournament futures odds have recently gotten shorter at BookMaker.eu over the last week.
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Missouri Tigers: 50-1
The Tigers have seen their odds to win it all go from 100-1, to 77-1 to 50-1 dating back to February 12. During that stretch, the club has split its two games ousting Texas A&M 62-58 at home, but then came up short in Baton Rouge where it fell to LSU by a 64-63 final count. A tip of the cap is no doubt in order for Cuonzo martin and his staff, and Kassius Robertson has proven to be a heck of a player as well as a possible NBA candidate. However, this is a program that hasn’t sniffed the Big Dance since falling to Colorado State in the first round back in 2013. Nobody on the current roster has any serious postseason experience. Mizzou isn’t cutting down any nets in 2018!
Baylor Bears: 80-1
The Bears have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons. With it now in fifth place within the Big 12 and penciled in as a No. 11 seed in the First Four, it’s likely Scott Drew’s troops find their way back into March Madness. Should that happen, I’ll be eager to fade them. Especially against a team with its own set of bigs that can give it a battle on the glass. Baylor is an extremely tough team to watch at the offensive end of the court, and that will likely be the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it’s said and done. Baylor hasn’t gone further than the Sweet 16 in its recent appearances, and it’s nearly impossible to see them bettering that output this season with a team worse off than last year’s squad. Attempt to hedge any Bears’ futures if you got ‘em!
USC Trojans: 125-1
After making some noise in last year’s dance before bowing out to Baylor in the Sweet 16 in a game that went down to the wire, the Trojans were expected to be one of the better teams in the Pac-12 and have no problem getting back to the NCAA Tournament. But with Bennie Boatwright now out for the remainder of the season and USC currently listed in one of Joe Lunardi’s First Four out, it doesn’t look good for Andy Enfield’s kids moving forward. Especially with two of its final three games to come on the road where it’s 4-5 overall and just 3-4 in conference play. The team will attempt to put an end to its three-game losing streak as visitors. There’s a as good a shot as any that USC misses out on a meaningful second season.
Mississippi State Bulldogs: 150-1
The Bulldogs have made some recent waves in SEC play coming up with home wins against Missouri and Alabama. They just disposed of in-state rival Ole Miss in likely the program’s last meeting with Andy Kennedy at the helm. Even though MSST dropped two of its last three games, it doesn’t look like losses to Missouri in the rematch and Vanderbilt at the buzzer did much of anything to beef their futures odds back up. Instead, it’s been quite the opposite. Now offering up a 150-1 return after exuding value at 1000-1 back on February 17, the Bulldogs have nearly been priced out of the value market. Quinndary Weatherspoon is a fine player and the Dogs own a tenacious defense, but neither is leading it to a South Carolina type run from a year ago.
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