College basketball best bets for Tuesday, 3/12: Gonzaga locks up another WCC title

The college basketball regular season is finally complete and conference championship week is here! We’ve got plenty of madness in store this week, as we’ll have nonstop action and marquee games for 7 consecutive days before the reveal of the NCAA Tournament bracket on Selection Sunday.

While the college hoops market is as sharp as it has ever been, there are still a few good value bets of which to take advantage. Let’s take a look at my best bets for Tuesday’s action, but make sure you also check out our college basketball picks for the biggest games of the day.

In North Carolina and having trouble choosing a sportsbook to kick off your sports betting experience? Check out the latest North Carolina Sportsbooks, Best Betting Sites, Apps & Guide.

Gonzaga Bulldogs -1.5 over St. Mary’s Gaels (-110)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to Gonzaga -3. 

The WCC tournament is consistently an entertaining venture out in Las Vegas, and we have the best rivalry in the conference set for a matchup in the tournament final on Tuesday. This matchup features a pair of programs that have typically found themselves in this role over the past couple of seasons, as the top-seeded Saint Mary’s Gaels will take on a historic powerhouse (and frequent rivals) in the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Gaels looked like the better of these sides for the majority of the season, including a win over the Bulldogs in Spokane. However, few teams are playing better than Gonzaga over the past month, as the Bulldogs are 9th at Barttorvik since February 1, winning 8 of 9 during that span. We just saw Gonzaga exact some revenge in dominant fashion in Moraga on March 2, which marked its seventh win by double digits since February 7.

While the Bulldogs are playing their best basketball of the season, the same can’t quite be said for this Saint Mary’s team. As I mentioned in Monday’s column, the Gaels really miss sophomore forward Joshua Jefferson, who has left a massive hole in the frontcourt after suffering a knee injury in February. Sophomore center Harry Wessels is also doubtful for this final, which will leave the Gaels extremely limited in the frontcourt. To its credit, Saint Mary’s did handle these injury losses well in its semifinal win over Santa Clara, but this Gonzaga team is a much different beast. The Bulldogs are also quietly a top 40 two-point defense over the last 6 weeks, which bodes well against a Gaels team that does the vast majority of their damage inside the arc and around the basket. I’ve been riding the hot hand with Gonzaga for weeks and I won’t stop here. Let’s back the Zags to get it done on Tuesday.

The post College basketball best bets for Tuesday, 3/12: Gonzaga locks up another WCC title appeared first on Pickswise.