Futures are now in college hoops

Cash our West Coast Conference play last night, and now we get treated to an awesome final tonight between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. We'll touch on that game down in quick picks. We need to break down some of the big-name conferences getting started today and lock in some futures, don't you think?

Rocking with a trio of teams to take home conference titles

The ACC and Big 12 tournaments get going today, with the Big East, SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12 starting tomorrow. We have all these conferences covered thanks to our friends over at Action Network, so be sure to hop in to explore each tournament bracket in more depth:

• ACC
• Big East
• Big Ten
• Big 12
• Pac-12
• SEC

The talented college hoops experts there paint a complete picture of all six conferences, and after doing our own homework, we're drawn to a trio of longshot futures to back in conference play. If even one of these teams can reach the conference title game, we're made in the shade.

Big East: Seton Hall (+3500)

Action's Shane McNichol does a compelling job making the case for Seton Hall at this price in the Big East tourney. The Pirates have some big wins in their pocket this year, already taking down UConn, Marquette and Creighton, the top three seeds in the conference. Seton Hall will draw St. John's in their first game, and while the Johnnies are hot, there seems to be an oversaturated market for them to continue this run. 

That opens up value for the Pirates to take down St. John's and UConn and then sit in the title game and await their opponent.

Big 12: Texas (+3000)

Texas has been the Big 12's second-best team for the past month, writes Action's Greg Waddell, ranking 12th nationally since Feb. 10. The Longhorns have a bonafide star in Max Abmas, who is getting hot from deep, and considering they're playing as good of basketball as any, the 30-1 price seems too good to pass up.

Texas will need to win three games to make the title game, but they do avoid the conference's best team in Houston on their side of the bracket.

SEC: Florida (+2000)

Action's Charlie Disturco loves the Florida Gators out of the SEC, and after reading his take, we're sold. The love toward Florida is borne from the ideal mold of a team that can win in March. The Gators have offensive firepower and a superstar in Walter Clayton Jr. who can break games wide open. Florida is also the No. 4 team in offensive rebounding, which should only help to overwhelm opponents.

The Gators are also the 11th-tallest team in the land which can be a matchup nightmare. The draw for Florida also appears to be favorable. Should they handle business in their first game, they'd face Alabama, a team that may be resting starters in favor of getting healthier in advance of a national championship run. There are paths for Florida here, and we'll hop on at this price.

In the news ...

Derrick Henry signs with Ravens — Baltimore has landed a new running back, signing star Derrick Henry to a two-year deal, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. What Henry has left in the tank remains to be seen, but his addition to the Ravens offense alongside Lamar Jackson is one we’re excited to see. Baltimore is currently +115 to win their division and +475 to win the AFC after falling in the AFC Championship Game this past season.

First day of NFL free agency a doozy — Yesterday marked the first day of NFL free agency, and while it's only legal tampering at the moment, it hasn't stopped a flood of moves all across the league. A few early winners appear to be the Packers, Eagles and Falcons. Green Bay nabbed the top safety in the class in Xavier McKinney and added Josh Jacobs, while Philly brought in an ascending pass-rusher in Bryce Huff and stole Saquon Barkley away from their division rivals. Some will argue that Kirk Cousins is being paid too much, but there's no denying that he's a massive upgrade for Atlanta. The Falcons and Eagles are now both division favorites following their Monday moves.

Joe Mixon traded to Houston — It was at first announced that Cincinnati would be releasing RB Joe Mixon, but instead, they're trading him to the Houston Texans, who lost out on Saquon Barkley. Houston is a team with a ton of cap space that gives them the flexibility to add resources to a position like RB. Mixon will join C.J. Stroud and a group of promising young receivers with expectations high in Houston heading into 2024. The Texans are +160 favorites to win the AFC South this coming season.

JMU and Samford next teams to punch their tickets to the big dance — We have two more conference winners joining the field for the NCAA March Madness, with JMU winning the Sun Belt and Samford taking home the Southern Conference title. The CAA, Horizon League, Northeast, Summit League and West Coast conferences will all be determined tonight. 

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll. Follow him on Substack: griffybets.substack.com.