College Basketball Conference Tournaments Betting Preview

West Coast Conference and Mountain West from Las Vegas

The countdown to the NCAA Tournament is less than 10 days away, and Selection Sunday is March 15. The college basketball conference tournaments (CCT’s) have started, and teams will start punching their ticket to the Big Dance this week. That includes in the West Coast Conference, where the champion will be crowned on Tuesday, March 10 at the Oreans Arena in Las Vegas. Also less than 7 miles from my house in Las Vegas is the Thomas and Mack Center, where I’ll attend some of the Mountain West Conference tournament starting on March 11 and the MWC Championship Game on Saturday, March 14. College basketball conference tournaments are the most exciting time of the year ahead of the NCAA Tournament, and I chip-in betting guides with odds, stats, select picks and information you can bet on initially provided and posted at Off Shore Gaming Association.

The power conference tournaments run March 10-15 with the Big Ten and SEC crowning their champions in Chicago and Nashville. More Top 25 teams from the Big 12, Big East and ACC will crown their winners next week in Kansas City, New York and Charlotte with many teams from the major conferences moving onto the NCAA Tournament as at-large teams. But some of the most exciting and anxiety-filled games will be played in the one-bid smaller conferences, and I’ll try to add more stats and information you can bet on along the way to assist you in your projections and pursuit of profit.

NCAA Bracket Watch

As you follow the NCAA Tournament bracket watch and teams to consider for futures bets on the CCT’s, NCAA Tournament, Final Four, March Madness and additional pools and wagers, know that the projected top seeds fit a proven profile of an NCAA Tournament winner and national champion.

Projected NCAA Tournament top seeds Duke (28-2), Michigan (27-2) and Arizona (28-2) have secured the regular season titles in the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 as of March 5. The other projected top seed is recent 2-time national champion Connecticut (26-3), who is tied with St. John’s on top of the Big East standings at 17-2 with one game remaining. Those four teams are all top defensive teams and defensive dominators fitting proven stats profiles.

Those four top teams also join Florida, Houston and Iowa State as the six teams that currently rank top 20 of both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency in KenPom’s ratings. Why is that notable? Because 22 of the last 23 national champions have finished in the Top 20 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.

West Coast Conference

Odds to win the West Coast Conference tournament from BetOnline and leading online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting.

Listed in the table is each teams overall and conference records in conference tournament seed order, and offensive and defensive efficiency (OE, DE) ratings from KenPom. Also, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is a key advanced metric that measures a team’s or player’s efficiency, calculated as the difference between their Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 possessions) and Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). It shows how much better or worse a team performs compared to opponents.

Team	Record	Odds to Win	OE / DE	NET
Gonzaga	28-4 / 16-2	-210	27 / 11	6
St. Mary’s	27-4 / 16-2	+180	45 / 18	21
Santa Clara	24-7 / 15-3	+750	25 / 68	41
Oregon State	16-15 / 9-9	+10000	171 / 203	174
San Francisco	16-15 / 8-10	+7500	104 / 176	123
Pacific	17-14 / 8-10	+20000	149 / 92	116
Seattle	19-12 / 8-10	+25000	287 / 25	119
Washington State	12-19 / 7-11	+20000	91 / 222	135
Portland	13-18 / 6-12	+30000	222 / 179	225
Loyola Marymount	15-16 / 6-12	+30000	215 / 103	169
San Diego	11-20 / 5-13	+30000	186 / 270	243
Pepperdine	9-22 / 4-14	+30000	249 / 256	271

Some of the stats reference will be on winning teams, as those will be teams to follow in the NCAA Tournament and select other postseason tournaments including the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

West Coast Conference Stats, Trends and Notes

Santa Clara has had a terrific season under WCC Coach of the Year Herb Sendek, and the Broncos did split two games with St. Mary’s but lost twice to Gonzaga. But in conference play only, Santa Clara’s offense was the best in the WCC ranking No. 1 in offensive efficiency, effective field goal percentage, 2-point FG percentage and tempo with Sixth Man and Freshman of the Year Allen Graves leading the team in rebounding and an 11 ppg scorer. The Broncos are No. 1 in turnover percentage on offense behind Gonzaga. The Zags are No. 3 in offensive efficiency and effective FG% with St. Mary’s No. 2 and 4. St. Mary’s is the top 3-point shooting team with the league’s best back court in sophomore 1st team WCC players Joshua Dent and  while Santa Clara is No. 4 and Gonzaga No. 10. Seattle, despite 19 wins, is last in the league in those offensive categories in WCC play.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs and St. Mary’s Gaels remain defensive dominators and the top defensive teams in the WCC in defensive efficiency, effective FG% and 2-point percentage defense. Gonzaga power forward Graham Ike is the WCC Player of the Year, but the only Gonzaga player on the first or second WCC All-Conference team. Also, the Zags lost big man forward Braden Huff in mid-January to a knee injury, and he won’t be returning for the CCT or early NCAA Tournament. The Seattle Redhawks are top 3 in those defensive stats with WCC Defensive Player of the Year Will Heimbrodt leading the league in blocked shots. All awards were voted on by the league’s 12 coaches.

Gonzaga went 6-2 vs. Quad 1 and 5-0 vs. Quad 2 teams losing badly to Michigan in the early season Players Era Championship title game, which I attended at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas as one of the top games in November. St. Mary’s was 1-3 vs. Quad 1 and 8-1 vs. Quad 2. Santa Clara went 1-5 vs. Quad 1 and 7-1 vs. Quad 2 teams. Graham Ike (19.8 ppg) and Paulius Murauskas (18.6) are the leading scorers in the conference with Ike (21.9) even better against WCC teams only. Those two are also two of the top three rebounders in the WCC behind St. Mary’s 7-foot 3 inch center Andrew McKeever (9.1). Guard Joshua Dent of St. Mary’s is top 3 in assists and the league’s premier free throw shooter (92%), while Santa Clara first-team WCC guard Christian Hammond (15.9 ppg) is among the top 5 scorers in the conference. Graham Ike, along with Pacific forward Elias Ralph and Santa Clara forward Elijah Mahi are the three seniors on the All-WCC first-team.

Gonzaga has won 11 of the last 13 West Coast Conference tournaments with St. Mary’s winning the other two. Gonzaga has won 20 WCC tournament titles under head coach Mark Few since 1999.

– WCC favorites in the semifinal and championship rounds are on a 22-14 ATS (61.1%) run, per the Vegas Stats & Info Network (VSiN).
– West Coast Conference tourney totals of 147 or higher have been explosive in recent years. The game totals are 27-12 over/under averaging more than 156 points per game.

West Coast Conference Tournament Schedule

First, Second and Third Round: March 5-7
Quarterfinals: March 8
Semifinals: March 9
Championship: 9 p.m. ET March 10 on CBS

Matchups and Odds

Thurs., March 5

• No. 12 Pepperdine vs. No. 9 Portland (-2.5)
• No. 11 San Diego vs. No. 10 Loyola Marymount (-5.5)

Friday, March 6

• No. 8 Washington State (-6.5) vs. Portland
• No. 7 Seattle (-10) vs. San Diego

Sat., March 7

• No. 5 San Francisco (-8) vs. Portland
• No. 6 Pacific vs. Seattle (-1.5) – bet under 129.5 (won, 61-58)

Sun., March 8

• No. 4 Oregon State vs. San Francisco
• No. 3 Santa Clara vs. Pacific

Mon., March 9 (semifinals)

• No. 1 Gonzaga (-20′) vs. Oregon State
• No. 2 St. Mary’s (-4.5) vs. Santa Clara

Tues., March 10 (Championship)

• Gonzaga (-8.5) vs. Santa Clara, 79-68

All the media members and ‘experts’ are picking Gonzaga to win the WCC Tournament again, with select few on St. Mary’s. Why not better odds on superbly-coached and balanced Santa Clara with the Broncos fast-paced attack and 84 points per game offense?

Mountain West Conference

Team	Record	Odds to Win	OE/DE	NET
Utah State	24-6 / 14-5	N/A	31 / 52	28
San Diego State	19-10 / 13-6		90 / 20	45
New Mexico	22-8 / 13-6		76 / 37	47
Grand Canyon	19-11 / 12-7		144 / 21	73
Colorado State	20-10 / 11-8		47 / 188	81
Nevada	19-11 / 11-8		73 / 91	72
Boise State	19-11 / 11-8		60 / 77	59
UNLV	16-14 / 11-8		82 / 180	113
Wyoming	17-13 / 8-11		94 / 124	100
Fresno State	13-17 / 7-12		188 / 86	144
San Jose State	8-22 / 3-16		143 / 314	255
Air Force	3-27 / 0-19		349 / 311	351

Mountain West Stats, Trends and Notes

The value of having a bye in conference tournaments is typically significant, especially when they are believed to be the better team. But this MWC tournament has produced four different winners since 2022 including Colorado State (2025), New Mexico (2024), San Diego State (2023) and Boise State (2022). Will the league’s best team this season make it five with the Utah State Aggies leading the way? The regular season champion has only won the conference tournament three times in the past eight years. None of those was UNLV, and the Rebels havn’t won the conference tournament on it’s home court at Thomas & Mack since 2008.

In conference games only this season, here are the stats leaders:

– Scoring offense: Utah State (81.9 ppg), New Mexico (80.3), UNLV (78.8), Boise State (78.5), San Diego State (78.1).
– FG% offense: Utah State (49.6%), San Diego State (48.0), UNLV (47.7), Colorado State (47.2), New Mexico (46.5), Grand Canyon (46.3).
– 3-point offense: UNLV (38.5%), New Mexico (38.2), Nevada (36.9), Colorado State (36.1), Utah State (35.4).
– Scoring defense: Grand Canyon (67.6), San Diego State (70.3), Nevada (71.4), New Mexico (71.9), Colorado State (72.3), Utah State (72.8).
– FG% defense: Grand Canyon (39.6%), San Diego State (39.7), New Mexico (43.1), Utah State (43.5), Nevada (44.6).
– 3-point defense: Grand Canyon (29.9%), New Mexico (30.4), San Diego State (33.1), Nevada (35.2), Utah State (35.6).
– Rebounding margin: Boise State (+6.8), Grand Canyon (+3.5), Nevada (+2.6), New Mexico (+1.5).

Utah State (+9.1) and New Mexico (+8.4) led the Mountain West in scoring margin per game in conference play followed by San Diego State (+7.8) and Nevada (+7.7). UNLV (+4.6), San Diego State (+4.4) and Grand Canyon (+4.2) led the league in blocked shots. Utah State (16.9) topped the Mountain West in assists per game with San Diego State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Nevada and UNLV 14-15 assist per game. League leaders in steals 7-8 per game are San Diego State, New Mexico, Utah State and Grand Canyon with New Mexico and Colorado State taking and making the most 3-pointers averaging 8.5 to 9.5 makes per game.

Mountain West Conference Tournament Schedule

First Round: March 11
Quarterfinals: March 12
Semifinals: March 13
Championship: 9 p.m. ET March 14 on CBS

Matchups and Odds 

Wed., March 11

• No. 8 UNLV (-4) vs. No. 9 Wyoming
• No. 5 Nevada (-20.5) vs. No. 12 Air Force
• No. 7 Colordo State (-7) vs. No. 10 Fresno State
• No. 6 Boise State (-15.5) vs. No. 11 San Jose State

Thurs., March 12 – Quarterfinals

• No. 1 Utah State (-7) vs. No. 8 UNLV
• No. 4 Grand Canyon (-2.5) vs. No. 5 Nevada
• No. 2 San Diego State (-5.5) vs. No. 7 Colorado State
• No. 3 New Mexico (-15) vs. No. 11 San Jose State

Fri., March 13 – Semifinals

• Utah State (-6.5) vs. Nevada
• San Diego State (-1.5) vs. New Mexico

Sat., March 14 – Championship

• Utah State (-2.5) vs. San Diego State – Utah State wins 73-62

Check back daily for college basketball and conference tournament updates including matchups, odds, stats and select picks with information you can bet on.