With the NCAA tournament’s Final Four determined over the weekend and there being no games to break down until the following Saturday, it’s time for college basketball bettors to once again turn their attention back to the NIT tournament with the Final Four set to go down Tuesday night. The last four standing are comprised of the No. 4 seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies, No. 2 seed Xavier Musketeers, No. 4 seed Washington State Cougars, and No. 1 seed Texas A&M Aggies. With all four teams currently in peak form, Madison Square Garden is sure to be rocking with the betting action overflowing at online sportsbooks. Save for Wazzou smashing BYU in its own house, we cashed each of our other three selections in the quarterfinals with the Bonnies Under, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M. Let’s keep the good times rolling with some NIT semifinals picks in hopes of fattening up the bankroll for Saturday’s Final Four action!
The NIT tournament picks back up with the semifinals on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. BookMaker.eu will have NCAA basketball odds available for every game remaining in the tournament.
Bet NIT Tournament Odds at BookMaker.eu
St. Bonaventure Bonnies vs. Xavier Musketeers +1, 142
Stellar defensive play and red hot 3-point shooting has been the recipe for the Bonnies punching a ticket to the Big Apple. They went into Boulder and held the Colorado Buffaloes to 68 points while draining 10 shots from distance. They then held the Sooners to just 68 points in Norman and hit 10 more threes. In the quarters versus Virginia, the 3-point shooting failed them (3/15), but the defense was stellar in holding the Cavaliers to a 38 percent showing from the field. A perfect mark from the charity stripe (9/9) allowed for Kyle Lofton and Co. to log the slim 52-51 outright win as 2.5-point dogs to punch that ticket to MSG. Bonaventure has bounced back nicely from that disappointing defeat to St. Louis in the A10 tourney by winning three straight and covering the college basketball odds each time; all as underdogs.
Linemakers tabbed them 1.5-point favorites to defeat the Musketeers who won all three NIT matches against Cleveland State, Florida, and Vanderbilt, but only managed one point spread cover; all as favorites. The Bonnies haven’t been great investments in the short chalk role dating back to 2019 in going 3-4 SU and ATS. On the flipside, Xavier’s 0-3 SU and ATS the last three times it was installed a short underdog up to two points. Even with Paul Scruggs out of the equation, I’m of the belief Xavier is the better of these two teams. It ranks out higher than Bonaventure analytically in most pertinent stat categories, and it’s the deeper team. With the announcement made late last week that Sean Miller is headed back to Xavier to once again overlook the program, things are currently at a fever pitch in Cincinnati. Look for Zach Freemantle and his mates to ride that wave of emotion into the NIT title game!
Washington State Cougars vs. Texas A&M Aggies (PK, 135)
What a shock! The total for this semifinals matchup hit the board at 136 and has since been bet down a point to 135. Why isn’t it shocking? Well, both Wazzou and A&M have been nothing short of dominant at the defensive end of the court through NIT play with the former conceding an average of 57 points per game and the latter only giving up an average of 58 points to its three opponents. While going into the Marriot Center and holding BYU to 58 points was insane, limiting the excelled offenses of both SMU and Santa Clara to 63 and 50 was just bonkers! Buzz Williams has had the Aggies defense locked in for quite some time now. Since dropping eight straight games that saw it piss away any shot of an at-large invite to the dance, Texas A&M has conceded an average of just 66.1 points in its last 13 games. On top of that, it went 11-2 SU and a bankroll boosting 10-3 against the CBB odds in those matchups!
This Cougars’ Michael Flowers has been playing with his hair on fire recently. He just lit BYU up for 27 points by way of connecting on 11 of 20 overall shots which included a 4 of 10 showing from beyond the arc. The game prior, he went for 22 points on 6 of 13 shooting with another three more made bombs. He’s proven to be a problem, and is one the Aggies defense must make it a point to contain if it’s to stick around in this game. Another top priority will be holding onto the basketball. A&M has gotten away with turning the ball over 32 times through three played NIT games. Wazzou’s No. 44 ranked defensive turnover percentage will be a problem. So too will be its ability to dominate the offensive glass (No. 33). With this game likely to be played at a snail’s pace with both teams owners of bottom tier tempo ratings, ball security will be of utmost importance. Washington State does a better job of protecting its possessions, so I got the Cougars advancing into the Finals in a pick ‘em game.
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