Men’s
college basketball provides an excellent opportunity to bridge the college
football and NFL seasons with the NBA and NHL seasons when it comes to wagering
on major sports. From early November right through the madness of March, men’s
hoops offer a multitude of matchups to choose from on almost a daily basis.
The
following is a look as the top schools last season against the spread along
with a few that have shown the consistency to provide a solid return over the
past three seasons that could very well carry into next season.
The Best ATS in 2011/2012
The top team
in the nation last season ATS was the New
Mexico Lobos. They compiled a straight-up record of 28-7 and as the
No.5-seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, gave the Louisville
Cardinals all they could handle in a 59-56 loss in the third round as two-point
underdogs. The Lobos finished the season a very profitable 23-9 ATS overall and
10-3 ATS at home. New Mexico went 15-15-2 ATS in 2010/2011.
One of the
next best returns ATS belonged to the Michigan
State Spartans. They posted a 29-8 SU record and also fell to Louisville in
the NCAA Tournament with a 57-44 loss in the Sweet 16 round as 5.5-point
favorites. Despite this setback, the Spartans racked-up a 22-12 record ATS
overall and an 11-4 ATS record at home. This was a dramatic turnaround from a
very costly 11-21-1 ATS record the season before.
The third
shining star from last year was the very one that ended the first two teams on
our list’s season; the Big East’s Louisville
Cardinals. Not only did they make it all the way to the Final Four before
losing to eventual champion Kentucky 69-61 as 8.5-point underdogs, they made a
9-0 ATS run through both the Big East and NCAA Tournament to close-out the
year. The Cardinals finished the 2011/2012 campaign with a very profitable
23-13-1 ATS record while going an impressive 30-10 SU. Louisville would have
been one of the teams to make our next list with a 19-12-1 ATS record in
2010/2011 but it was a costly 10-18 ATS the season before that.
Consistent ATS Money Makers
The team at
the top of this list is the Ivy League’s Princeton
Tigers. They are by no means the flashiest team even in their conference
let alone Division I basketball, but over the past three seasons, the Tigers
have provided a profitable return ATS. They finished 22-9 SU in the 2009/2010
season and were 18-7 ATS. The following year, they were even better SU at 25-7
and still a healthy 16-12 ATS. Last season would be considered an off year for
Princeton with a 20-12 SU record, but it once again came through with a 19-9
record ATS. The Tigers should be at the top of your ‘ones to watch’ list for
this upcoming season given their consistency over the past three seasons.
Another team to add to your watch list is the
Colonial Athletic Association’s Drexel
Dragons. They have made a steady climb towards respectability on the court
over the past few seasons and could be poised for even bigger and better things
next season. Three seasons ago they posted a very pedestrian 16-16 record SU
and a 15-15-1 ATS record. The upward climb began in the 2010/2011 season with a
21-10 SU record overall and a profitable 17-12 record ATS. Last season, the
Dragons won the CAA regular season title with a conference record of 16-2 SU
and had an overall record of 29-7 SU, but were still snubbed for the NCAA
Tournament after losing to VCU in the conference title game. They remained
profitable all season long with a 20-14 record ATS.