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 West Virginia Mountaineers.
2023-2024 West Virginia Mountaineers Betting Preview
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Josh Eilert (1st season)
2022-2023 Record: 19-15 (7-11)
ATS: 17-17
O/U: 21-13
Projected Starters: G Kerr Kriisa; G Seth Wilson; F RaeQuan Battle; F Quinn Slazinski; C Jesse Edwards
It’s been six years since Bob Huggins guided the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16. Last year’s team had potential to make a deep NCAA Tournament run, but a 19-6 lead against Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament turned into a shocking loss, which was the precursor to a tumultuous offseason. Huggins was reported to have “resigned and retired” June 17 after a DUI arrest that a suspension in May for using a homophobic slur twice and for mocking Catholics during a radio interview. While Huggins continues to battle that assertion, the Mountaineers have moved forward with assistant Josh Eilert taking over a challenging situation as head coach. The Mountaineers only return 14.3% of their minutes from last season, but are still predicted ninth in the preseason poll.
Key Player: Kerr Kriisa
When Kriisa is good, he can be an elite college basketball point guard. When he is bad, he can self-destruct with emotional outbursts and a bevy of turnovers. He needs to be a leader for this time and bring together a collection of players that have experience playing a wide variety of styles. Kriisa has never averaged 10 PPG and increased his turnovers each season, reaching 2.6 per game last year. A deep dive on Kriisa’s last 14 regular season games illustrates everything. He posted seven games with a 30% or lower field goal percentage, and seven games with three or more 3PM. He has a nice ancillary piece in Arizona. In West Virginia, he could be asked to be the leading scorer.
Projection: This will likely be a nightmare season for West Virginia. The Mountaineers just lost Jose Perez to Arizona State as a late transfer. This situation reminds me of Louisville entering last season with Kenny Payne. Everyone thought they would be decent because of the program’s history and talent. The Cardinals started the year 0-9 with three straight home losses. West Virginia anxiously awaits the decision on RaeQuan Battle’s waiver, but will that really matter? Battle averaged 17.7 PPG at Montana State, but this is a huge increase in competition level. The Mountaineers have a collection of transfers, and no real identity without Huggins. Predicting West Virginia ninth in this conference is excessively optimistic.
How I’m Betting West Virginia: Fade, fade, fade. The Mountaineers start with three straight home games against Missouri State, Monmouth, and Jacksonville State. Each one projects as a double-digit line for the Mountaineers, exactly where we like it. They do not play a true road game until January 6, where they open conference play at Houston. They are projected at 3-15 within Big 12 play in KenPom, which may be optimistic.
