NBA Postseason Best Bets (5/17)
Alex Christenson
The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Bets we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.
Let’s start with the best conference in college basketball, the Big 12. Last season ended a three-year streak of Big 12 representation in the NCAA Championship game, including consecutive championships from Baylor (2020-2021) and Kansas (2021-2022). This year, the conference will add four new teams in Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF. With 14 total teams, will we see a change with the top teams, or will the dominance of national powerhouses such as Kansas, Texas and Baylor be magnified further?
Let’s take a look at our betting preview for the BYU Cougars.
2023-2024 BYU Cougars Betting Preview
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Mark Pope (5th season)
2022-2023 Record: 19-15 (7-9)
ATS: 18-14
O/U: 16-16
Projected Starters: G Dallin Hall; G Spencer Johnson; F Jaxson Robinson; F Fousseyni Traore; C Aly Khalifa
This is quite a jump for Mark Pope and the Cougars. Pope won 19 or more games in each of his four seasons with BYU but now faces a very different level of competition. I expect the Cougars to compete, especially at home, and recruit well…in time. BYU does return 75.6% of their minutes but suffered losses to key scorers in Rudi Williams (12.8 PPG) and Gideon George (10.4 PPG). The Cougars shot just 32.7% from 3P last season, finishing 245th nationally. That cannot happen in the Big 12, as the talent-deficient Cougars will need long-distance marksmanship to stay competitive.
Key Player: Aly Khalifa
Aly Khalifa adds a unique talent who fits perfectly inside Mark Pope’s system. Khalifa is a gifted passer (over 3.0 assists per game), floor-spacer (38% from deep), and at 6-foot-11 provides the perfect compliment to wrecking ball Fousseyni Traore. Khalifa does not need to score the ball to win basketball games and holds a huge hoop IQ thanks to his international exposure and success.
Projection: BYU is projected 13th in the conference, and with good reason. I expect an adjustment for the Cougars, but Pope is a brilliant tactician who will get BYU competitive quickly. It is just difficult to see a team that finished fifth in the West Coast Conference each of the past two seasons finish outside the bottom-3 place in the Big 12.
How I’m Betting BYU: Bet the Cougars at home, especially as an underdog. BYU was 9-6 at home last season, including a perfect 3-0 as a home underdog. Ironically, those were three of the only four times Pope was a home underdog as the leader of the Cougars. Another interesting nugget – teams struggle to score at BYU. The Cougars are 10-20 to the under over the past two seasons in Provo.
