Utah Valley has been the most profitable College Basketball team to bet on this season. The Wolverines enter the NIT semifinals with a 24-9 ATS record. Since the start of February, they are 11-2 straight up and ATS in all games. They’ve beaten New Mexico, Colorado and Cincinnati to get here.
But UAB, while not quite as profitable at the betting window, is the deserved favorite in this one. The Blazers have won 15 out of 17 games, going back to late January. The only two losses were to another NIT Final Four team (North Texas) and to Florida Atlantic in the Final of the C-USA Tournament. I probably don’t need to remind you as to what FAU has accomplished this March.
Led by Jordan “Jelly” Walker, UAB has beaten Southern Miss by 28, Morehead State by 18 and Vanderbilt (on the road) by 8 in their previous three NIT games. They average 81.1 points while giving up only 69.9 per game. Eight of their last 15 wins have come by double digits.
Early money sided with the Blazers and so do I. They are the better team at both ends of the floor and played in the tougher conference.
Walker hasn’t even been shooting all that well recently (below 40% L4 games) and it hasn’t mattered. UAB went just 2 of 15 from three at Vandy and still won going away. They are simply the better team here and I will lay the points. 10*