March madness betting favorites Gonzaga Bulldogs will face the Saint Mary’s Gaels tonight for their fifth consecutive West Coast Conference championship at the Orleans Arena in Paradise Nevada. People who will be betting on March madness expect to see the Zags in the NCAA tournament regardless, and Gonzaga will be looking to strut their stuff later on this evening.
Saint Marys CA +5½ (-110) 133½ (-110)
Gonzaga -5½ (-110) 133½ (-110)
The Bulldogs beat the Santa Clara Broncos in the WCC tournament semifinals on Monday to clinch a place in the conference finals for the 20th season in a row. Nigel Williams-Goss had 25 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, Przemek Karnowski added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Johnathan Williams had 11 points and six rebounds. Williams-Goss continues to be on what head coach Mark Few called “an amazing run.” The point guard has been named the 2017 WCC player of the year as well as appointed to the All WCC first team, NBC Sports All-American second team, Sporting News All-American second team, and USA TODAY All-American second team. He has also been named one of the five finalists for the 2017 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. Few himself has earned his 11th WCC coach of the year award; guess many are called but Few is chosen. Gonzaga is the country’s first 31-win team and would be a shoo-in for the No. 1 seed in the March madness betting tournament with a win tonight. In trends that might interest people who enjoy betting on March madness, the Zags are is 11-1 ATS in the last 12 games playing against Saint Mary’s and 11-2 SU in the last 13 games when playing the Gaels.
The Gaels defeated BYU 81-50 in the semis on Monday to advance to their 7th WCC championship game in the last nine years. Jock Landale (a jock named Jock? What are the odds?) had 22 points (including 8 of 12 field goal shooting and eight free throws) and 10 rebounds, Calvin Hermanson added 14 points, and Emmett Naar had 12 points and 11 assists. Tanner Krebs had another 11 points off the bench. SMC shot 55.8% from the floor and 52% from the three-point line – including 13 treys – while keeping BYU to 31.7% and 23.5% respectively. “I think you want to go into the Gonzaga game playing well, so I think it’s in our favor,” head coach Randy Bennett said. “We played well, we shot it well. The Gonzaga game, I think both teams look forward to it. It’s a great college basketball game.” the Gaels only lost twice in the WCC regular season and to the same school on both occasions: the Zags. In more trends that might interest people who enjoy betting on March madness, SMC is 1-11 ATS in the last 12 games when playing the Bulldogs and 2-11 SU in the last 13 games when playing against Gonzaga. Will we see the Gaels when march madness betting rolls around? We will if they manage to finally figure out the Zags tonight.