Okay MyBookie college basketball betting faithful, with the start of the 2020-21 season quickly approaching, it’s time to take a look at what could lie ahead for the national preseason No.1 Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Could the perennially-power West Coast Conference resident finally claim their first national championship under widely-respected head coach Mark Few or will the Zags come up just short of their championship hopes again after coming agonizingly close several times? Let’s find out right now so you can plan ahead your bets against our College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Preview: No. 1 Gonzaga
Gonzaga went 29-2 last season and has finished inside the top two teams in the nation in three of the last four seasons. The Bulldogs finished the 2019-20 campaign ranked second nationally and spent five weeks at No. 1 and a whopping 14 weeks inside the top three.
Unfortunately, Gonzaga lost a pair of big-time players in Filip Petrusev (17.8 ppg) and sweet-shooting fellow forward Killian Tillie (14.0 ppg, but the Zags added a five-star recruit in Jalen Suggs and have two other talented freshmen coming in, they’ll be counting on in Joel Ayayi and Dominick Harris.
- Key Returners: Joel Ayayi, Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, Anton Watson
- Key Losses: Filip Petrusev (pro), Killian Tillie, Ryan Woolridge, Admon Gilder
- Key Newcomers: Jalen Suggs, Julian Strawther, Dominick Harris, Oumar Ballo (redshirt), Aaron Cook (Southern Illinois)
Offense
Gonzaga led the nation in scoring last season by putting up a stellar 87.7 points per game while ranking second nationally in field goal shooting percentage (51.5%) and seventh in three-point shooting percentage (39.0%).
Defense
Defensively, the Bulldogs were solid as well in ranking 128th in points allowed (67.6 ppg), 1117thin field goal shooting defense (41.9%) and 101st in three-point field goal defense (31.8%).
Prediction
While Gonzaga went a stupendous 15-1 in conference play a year ago and will definitely be a national champion contender this coming season, I’m not expecting the Bulldogs to dominate the West Coast Conference like they did last season.
You see, BYU and Saint Mary’s both went a stellar 24-7 overall while going 13-3 and 11-5 in conference play respectively. Pacific (23-9) and San Francisco (20-11) both recorded 20-win campaigns while Santa Clara went an encouraging 19-12.
For college hoops betting buffs, you should know that, despite their on-court success last season, Gonzaga went an uninspiring 16-15 ATS, so it’s not like they were a consistent bankroll-boosting ballclub.
Will the Zags (+1000) make a run for the national championship? Yes, but in the end, I don’t think they’re going to have the athleticism it takes to beat out the like of Villanova (+800), Kentucky (+950) or a Virginia team (+1800) that will challenge everyone to score baskets – again next season.
Gonzaga is a +1000 pick to win it all, but I suspect the Bulldogs are going to come up just short of cashing in on their national championship odds!
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