NCAAB Conference futures: Here's 3 teams to like this week
Selection Sunday is less than a week away, but we have multiple conference tournaments to get through before we shift our focus to the NCAA Tournament. Let's serve up a few palate cleansers and target three conference tournament futures to get the juices flowing for March Madness.
Big 12: Baylor Bears +750 (ESPN BET)
No. 1 Houston is the heavy favorite to win the Big 12 Tournament, and for a good reason, but we're going against the best team in the country here.
Baylor won six of its last eight games in the regular season, and it gets the advantage of the double-bye in the Big 12 Tournament. The Bears are built to go on a run in a tournament setting, as they rank fourth in the country in three-point shooting percentage and fifth in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency. Their problem for most of the season has been the defense, but they were much better on that end of the floor down the stretch.
Baylor split with Kansas, beat Iowa State and lost to Houston in overtime in the regular season. This is the best choice to knock off the Cougars.
Pac-12: USC Trojans (+3000 DraftKings)
USC lost eight of nine games early in the Pac-12 schedule, but it's been a different story down the stretch. The Trojans finished the regular season with four wins in their last five games, and their only loss was a three-point game on the road against No. 22 Washington State. They also finished the regular season with a bang, knocking off No. 6 Arizona by 13 in the finale.
If it can take care of business against Washington, USC will get a rematch against Arizona in the quarterfinals. Win that, and the rest of the tournament is wide open.
MAC: Toledo Rockets (+340 DK)
Toledo has been the best team in the Mid-American Conference all season, but it's the third choice on the tournament odds board for some reason. The analytics prefer Akron and Ohio, but Toledo went 3-1 against them this year.
The Rockets have the best road record in the MAC (8-5), which is a good indicator of success in a neutral-court tournament setting. They lead the conference in points per game, shooting percentage and three-point field goal percentage. Toledo can outscore every team in this conference, and it will avoid Akron and Ohio until the championship game.
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