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 continue our preview with the ACC. Always competitive each season, the ACC is regularly among the nation’s top conferences with annual Final Four contenders Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. Last season, Miami made their first ever Final Four, guided by the March magic of head coach Jim Larrañaga. There are 15 teams in the ACC, making it the largest of all the power conferences. The critics continue to cite the weakness of the bottom ACC teams, which directly contributes to its sixth overall preseason ranking by KenPom. However, it still holds true that the top teams in the ACC will always have a chance at a Final Four run.
Let’s continue with our betting preview for the Virginia Tech Hokies.
2023-2024 Virginia Tech Hokies Betting Preview
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Mike Young (5th season)
2022-2023 Record: 19-15 (8-12)
ATS: 13-21
O/U: 19-14-1
Projected Starters: G Sean Padulla; G Hunter Cattoor; F Rodney Rice; F Robbie Beran; F Mekhi Long
The Hokies struggled early in conference play due to Cattoor suffering a fractured elbow against Boston College on December 21st. The Cattoor absence coincided with a seven-game ACC losing streak, putting Virginia Tech at 1-7 inside the ACC Jan. 21. The Hokies did show some life by winning their next three home games against Duke, Syracuse and Virginia. However, a second-round ACC Tournament loss to N.C. State was followed by a first-round loss to Cincinnati in the NIT. Coming off a 2022 ACC Tournament victory, last year was certainly a disappointment.
However, the Hokies return Cattoor with starting point guard Sean Pedulla back for his junior year, and MJ Collins and Rodney Rice are two rising sophomores. This gives Virginia Tech four solid guards with experience to guide this team. Last year, Cattoor averaged a career best 10.8 points while shooting 43% from the field. He also led the ACC with 42% from deep, posting 16 games of three-plus 3PM. He is just 17 three-pointers from the all-time Hokies record.
The key will be replacing center Grant Basile (16.4 PPG), but the Hokies added 6-foot-9 Northwestern forward Robbie Beran (7.5 PPG), and a pair of small forwards in former North Carolina Tar Heel Tyler Nickel (2.1 PPG), and Old Dominion product Mekhi Long (10.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG).
Key Player: Hunter Cattoor
The Hokies are a better and more efficient team when Cattoor is on the floor. He averaged 34.2 MPG for head coach Mike Young while leading the ACC in 3P shooting. Cattoor is a vastly underrated defender, creating deflections and steals on the perimeter. He was an integral piece of that magical 2022 ACC tournament run. Hokie fans hope Cattoor provides a few more memorable moments during his final season in Blacksburg.
Projection: My biggest question entering last season was whether Virginia Tech can continue to make threes at their absurd rate. They held strong shooting 36.3% within ACC play, but that was still a significant dropoff from the 39.3% (third-best overall) mark they posted in 2021-2022. Basile was not the inside force they expected, leaving a void in the middle of their defense. Assuming Beran and Long fill that frontcourt piece, an 11-9 record from two years ago seems much more plausible than last year’s disappointment.
How I’m Betting Virginia Tech: The Hokies are always a threat at home, especially as an underdog. Their advantage at Cassell Coliseum is so strong, they have not been an underdog in any home game the past two seasons. They were 2-0 in the two contests in 2019-2020 where they were a home underdog. Young’s team has struggled on the defensive end, especially against the 3P within conference play. I suspect the over/under trend listed above will continue, especially against ACC opponents.
