NCAA College Basketball Rankings Projecting AP Top 25 in Week 16

The calendar is almost ready to turn to March, and the Madness that comes with it will undoubtedly ensue as the end of the regular season, conference tournaments, and of course the NCAA Tournament are all on tap. As the months change and the weather gets warmer in some parts of the country, the old adage is that freshmen become sophomores, and teams become teams.

There are a number of squads that have had successful regular seasons, we will delve into if that success will translate into March, at least in our opinion. Check out MyBookie’s College Basketball betting analysis for the AP Top 25.

AP Top 25 College Basketball Betting Opportunities for this Week

Top 25 Thoughts

The Houston Cougars regained the top spot in the poll this week after Alabama fell on the road to Tennessee. Houston is obviously a great team with a proven coach in Kelvin Sampson and strong guard play, all recipes for success in the tournament. One knock on the Cougars, however is their strength of schedule, which according to KenPom metrics, ranks 99th in the nation, the worst of the top 45 teams according to the stat.

Defending champion Kansas is at number 3, and there’s no question that the Jayhawks are battle tested and know how to win in March; all you have to do is look at last year’s results when they cut down the nets.

In scanning down the Top 25, there’s a pair of teams we like: number 13 Miami and number 15 Saint Mary’s. Miami and its coach Jim Larranaga experienced success last year, making it all the way to the Elite 8, and although there’s some new pieces, there’s something about this team that intrigues us. Granted the ACC, with just one other team amongst the top 25, is somewhat down but we just like the Canes.

St. Mary’s is a program whose success has been greatly overshadowed by fellow WCC member Gonzaga, the darlings of the sport. Currently ranked 15th, the Gaels own a win already over the Zags but then did lose to an upstart Loyola Marymount squad. Two of the West’s premier programs will hook up this Saturday in Spokane in the regular-season finale for both sides.

A Few Futures to Keep an Eye On

As a general rule, when looking at futures, we tend to start analyzing teams/players/drivers whose prices begin at 10/1 or higher just for the sake of getting some value.

In looking at the current markets to qualify for (not win) the Final 4, there are a few teams that interest us for a potential investment. Miami (Fla.) at 13/1 is one of them, given their past success. Another team that has been hot and cold but does have the potential to make a deep run is Maryland at 30/1. Another team that has had a turnaround nothing short of remarkable are the Pitt Panthers, who sit on the board at 40/1.

All three of these teams have experienced coaches who have all taken other programs deep into the tournament so they are battle tested. Look for them to pull some upsets and perhaps be on the four teams standing when all is said and done in Houston.