Vaughn Dalzell breaks down the American East and Atlantic Sun Tournaments.
American East Tournament Winner: Vermont (-250)
If you have followed me over the last three years, you know Vermont is one of my favorite teams to back.
The Catamounts have won two straight American East Tournaments and four of the past five. They were mistakenly priced at -135 on FanDuel to win the Conference for less than five minutes before closing and opening at -250 to -280 like everywhere else.
Vermont’s won 15 of the last 16 games and seven straight. The tournament is also at Vermont, where the Catamounts are 11-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play.
With the 13th-best defense in the nation over the last 10 games, give me Vermont to win the American East parlayed with Stetson to win the ASun at +103 odds on DraftKings.
Pick: Vermont to win the American East and Stetson to win ASun (1u)
Atlantic Sun Tournament Winner: Stetson (-220)
Austin Peay is in their second season in the ASun Conference and the Governors are fighting for a conference title. Stetson has improved tremdously over the past two seasons, doubling their win total from 2022.
The Hatters are the favorite to win and these teams only met once, a 83-82 win for Stetson at home. They met last year and Stetson won that matchup too, 76-51.
Austin Peay was down by 12 in the second-half of their first round matchup versus North Florida and came back to win in OT. Austin Peay trailed most of the first half versus North Alabama the following game using a 35-27 second-half to secure the win.
A third comeback would be taxing for the Governors. However, Stetson needed a 10-point comeback in the final five minutes to beat Jacksonville after cruising versus Queens.
Both these teams are capable of playing from behind, but Stetson’s defense has played much better lately than Austin Peay’s.
In fact, over their last 10 games, Austin Peay’s defense ranks 358th out of 361 teams in Barttorvik’s defensive ratings. Parlay Stetson to win that game at -220 odds with Vermont to win the American East for +103 odds on DraftKings.
Pick: Stetson to win ASun and Vermont to win the American East (1u)
CBB Futures In My Pocket:
1u: Houston win the National Championship (+700)
1u: Iowa State to make the Final Four (+550)
1u: South Florida to win the AAC Tournament (+500)
1u: Illinois to win the Big Ten Tournament (+500)
1u: Morehead State to win the OVC Tournament (+105)
1u: Samford to win the SoCon Tournament (+155)
1u: Stetson and Vermont Conference Parlay (+103)
0.1u: Ohio State to win the Big Ten Tournament (+5000)
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