College Basketball Futures Best Bets for NCAA Champion: Houston Cougars

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Vaughn Dalzell selects the Houston Cougars as his favorite pick to win the Big Dance in March.

NCAA Champion: Houston Cougars (+700)

March is upon us and getting value on a No. 1 seed is valuable as we inch closer to Selection Sunday. My pick to win it all are the Houston Cougars, which you can find anywhere from +600 to +700 odds.

Houston plays in the toughest conference and whether or not they win the Big 12 Tournament, the Cougars will be announced as a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday and their odds to win the title will be cut shorter.

Houston is ranked No. 1 in both Kenpom and Barttorvik with the top-ranked defense and a top 15 offense. The last eight NCAA Champions and all but one since 1999 (Uconn, 2014) have been ranked top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, which makes them one of nine teams thus far.

The field that qualifies for that as of March 5 are Houston, UConn, Purdue, Arizona, Tennessee, Auburn, Duke, Creighton, and Marquette.

When you dig deeper, the teams that win the championship normally rank top 50 in one of the two rebounding categories. Creighton, Marquette, Duke, Tennessee, and Auburn all fall outside the top 50.

When you consider forcing turnovers per possession, Houston is ranked third in the country (24.7%), while Marquette (16th) is the only other team from that field ranked in the top 80.

The Cougars check all the boxes for me as far as coaching, talent, rebounding, resume, defense, shooting, guard-play, plus the ability to play at different tempos and create turnovers.

I grabbed the Houston Cougars to win the National Championship at +700 odds and would go down to +500.

Pick: Houston Cougars to win the National Championship (1u)

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball-futures-best-bets-211147637.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-05 21:11:47

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