2021-22 Big Sky Basketball Betting Preview
Big Sky Basketball Preseason Predictions
WagerTalk college basketball handicapper Adam Trigger offers his thoughts on the upcoming 2021-22 Big Sky Basketball season. Which teams are being underrated by the betting market? Which teams should you stay away from? Check out Adam’s Big Sky Basketball betting preview.
The 2021-22 college basketball season tips off on Tuesday, November 9th, and Adam Trigger wants to introduce himself with a big discount! For a limited time, you can get the opening seven days of the college hoops season for ONLY $39, giving you access to ANY college basketball selections played during opening week, including ANY 5% Best Bets on the hardwood! Stay on top of the latest College Basketball updates direct from Las Vegas!
Big Sky Basketball Betting Preview
I am in a nice groove with the West Coast mid-major teams so let’s stay out west and look at the Big Sky, which is another one of the “mid-major” conferences from this part of the country. Southern Utah won last year’s regular season crown, but Eastern Washington captured the Big Sky Basketball Tournament as the No. 2 seed. Here, we have a case of a “BET ON” team that I was wrong about last year who basically has everyone back, and I’ll be on them as a “BET ON” team again this season.
Big Sky Basketball ‘BET ON’ Teams
Montana Grizzlies – That team is the Montana Grizzlies, we cashed with the Grizz in their outright win over Washington and in another impressive performance against Arizona and I thought Montana would be the team that would go on to win the Big Sky last year. That didn’t end up being the case, Montana choked away multiple big leads and was really one of the unluckiest teams in the country as the Grizz slumped to a 7-9 record in Big Sky play and 15-13 overall. Last season is a complete outlier result for Montana basketball under head coach Travis DeCuire as his worst mark in Big Sky play in the previous six years of his tenure in Missoula was an 11-7 season back in 2016-17. Montana is just two years removed from back to back 26 win seasons (and NCAA Tournament appearances) and with a loaded roster with almost everyone back I would not be surprised if Montana is “dancing” again this season. Montana loses Michael Steadman via transfer to UMASS but literally everyone else is back from a team that was very young last season but very talented.
Montana poached the best player from conference rival Idaho as senior Scott Blakney transfers in and Montana will feature four players that all averaged double figures in the Big Sky last year. Derrick Carter-Hollinger had a monster freshman season in 2019-20 and after a season marred by injuries he should be back to full strength and a big contributor off the bench for Montana. Sophomore guard Brandon Whitney is an excellent scorer from the point guard position and the Grizz have 3-4 guys interchangeable at the 2 and 3 positions that are all capable of knocking down the three. Weber State seems to be the consensus to win this conference but I expect Montana to be right in the mix and I think we will see Montana be solid value in non-conference play against the big boys (Mississippi State and Oregon) again this season.
Montana State Bobcats – Drive three hours from Missoula to Bozeman and you will find another squad that I’ve tabbed as a “BET ON” team in the Big Sky in Montana State. The Bobcats caught my eye the first night of the season last year when they ran UNLV out of the Thomas & Mack Center in a 91-78 blowout. I bet on Montana State a couple times early in Big Sky play last year but after a losing streak and a couple of COVID related pauses I decided to bail on this Montana State team. That turned out to be a mistake, Montana State won two of their last three games to close the regular season and knocked off #1 seed Southern Utah to make it all the way to the Big Sky Championship game where they fell a game short of the NCAA Tournament losing a hard fought game to Eastern Washington. It was an outstanding coaching job by second year head coach Danny Sprinkle and now in his third season in charge he has everyone back and by far the best team he’s had in Bozeman to date.
Montana State had three seniors elect to come back and use the extra year and I feel like they did so because they believe in what Sprinkle is building/has built already in Bozeman. Montana State will start four seniors and junior RaeQuan Battle who was a stud in high school but just never caught on during his time at Washington. The move from the PAC 12 to the Big Sky should help Battle big time and I expect him to thrive in a setting that is “pro-offense” as opposed to the “defense first” principles he was forced to play under at Washington. Montana State is suspect defensively but the Bobcats have a ton of firepower on offense and if Battle pans out they will have one of the most potent starting units in the league. Montana State is always an afterthought in this league which means it’s pretty much a guarantee the Bobcats will be undervalued and I expect Montana State to thrive against the number, especially as an underdog this season.
Big Sky Basketball ‘BET AGAINST’ Team
Eastern Washington Eagles – I was at the Red Rock eating breakfast trying to recover from staying out until all hours on NCAA Tournament Friday night and thought I was still asleep and dreaming at one point when Eastern Washington took a 46-38 lead into halftime on Kansas in what was a Saturday morning game out in Vegas. Eastern Washington’s dream run ended with the Eagles falling just short to the Jayhawks 93-84, and it’s going to be back to reality for Eastern Washington this season as there’s big time roster turnover in Cheney. Eastern Washington won’t have a single player that actually played in that game against Kansas back, head coach Shantay Legans has left to take the Portland job and longtime assistant David Riley will be tasked with rebuilding this Eastern Washington team with a bunch of transfers and a couple guys that played extremely limited minutes off the bench last season.
The only guy on this Eastern Washington roster that’s at all proven at the Division 1 level is senior Rylan Bergersen who averaged 16.9 points per game for Central Arkansas last season. Forward Angelo Allegri brings his 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game with him from UNC Greensboro but outside of these two it’s going to be two guys that were pretty far down on the bench last season and a JUCO transfer filling out the starting lineup. Riley grabbed a couple of D2 guys and has a bunch of freshman filling out the bench but he’s a 32 year old kid in his first head coaching job and I expect some growing pains here as Riley and a very inexperienced roster figure things out. Eastern Washington has been near the top of the Big Sky year in and year out for the past six years, I don’t think the Eagles crack the top half of this conference this season but the name recognition might get them more love than they should get and that could make EWU a good fade against the number this year.
Im going to go conference by conference & post previews with teams I’m looking to bet on & bet against this season
I’ll post them for free @WagerTalk
There are conferences I focus on more than others but drop the ones you want ⬇️ and I’ll try to go in order of most requested!
— Adam Trigger (@TopFlightSI) October 18, 2021
Other College Basketball Conference Previews
West Coast Conference Preview
WAC Conference Preview
College Basketball Betting Basics
College basketball totals can be one of the most frustrating, yet rewarding, things to handicap in the sports betting sphere. WagerTalk’s Kelly Stewart and Drew Martin help you navigate the finer points of how to handicap college basketball totals. In this round of college basketball betting tips, Drew and Kelly break down five key factors for betting college basketball, including pace of play, changes in tempo and efficiency stats.
2021-22 NCAA Basketball National Championship Odds
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has just released their updated 2021-22 NCAA Basketball National Championship odds, and Gonzaga remains the 6-to-1 favorite, followed by Texas (10-to-1), Kansas (12-to-1) and UCLA (12-to-1). Once the season tips off, WagerTalk’s live odds screen will feature up-to-the-minute betting lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books.
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
