We are down to the final three games of West Coast Conference Tournament betting action, starting with Saturday’s semifinals. The first matchup pits the surprising No. 9 Loyola Marymount Lions against the No.1 Gonzaga Bulldogs, who had a bye to this point of the tournament.
The Lions knocked off Portland, San Francisco, and Santa Clara to get to this round, but they will now have to face a team they lost twice to this season by a combined 64 points.
In the second game, No. 2 Saint Mary’s will face No. 6 San Diego. The Gaels also had a bye until the semis but the Toreros knocked off Pepperdine 62-59 in their first game as 4-point favorites before stunning No. 3 BYU 72-69 as 11.5-point underdogs. San Diego lost both meetings to the Gaels this season, but the last game ended as a PUSH with Saint Mary’s favored by 10 points.
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Friday’s WCC betting matchups will feature the meat of the order as the top two seeds, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, continue to lie in wait to make their debut in this year’s tournament in Saturday’s semifinals.
Loyola Marymount continued its early run as the ninth and final seed with a stunning 61-60 overtime victory over No. 5 San Francisco as a 5-point underdog on the West Coast betting odds after beating No. 8 Portland 65-54 as a 1.5-point favorite on Wednesday. In tonight’s quarterfinals, the Lions tangle with No. 4 Santa Clara for the third time this season after earning a split both straight-up and against the spread in the regular season.
In the second game, the No. 6 San Diego Toreros will face No. 3 BYU after knocking off No. 7 Pepperdine 62-59 as 4-point favorites on the closing line betting line. These two also split their previous two games this year with each winning at home both SU and ATS.
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The WCC Tournament got underway on Wednesday night with No. 9 Loyola Marymount beating No. 8 Portland 65-54 as a 1.5-point favorite.
The Lions will now face No. 5 San Francisco in the first of two second-round contests this Thursday night. The Dons won both meetings this season straight-up and against the spread.
In the second game, the No. 6 San Diego Toreros will face the No. 7 Pepperdine Waves as 3-point favorites on the opening lines. These two met twice this season with the Toreros winning 62-50 as 1.5-point road underdogs the first time they met and 76-69 just this past Saturday as 5.5-point home favorites.
The total was split 1-1.
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The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the big betting favorites on the West Coast Conference Tournament odds as that event gets underway on Wednesday with No. 9 Loyola Marymount taking on No. 8 Portland in what amounts to a play-in game.
The real action at the tournament, though, gets going later in the week as newly-crowned No. 1 Gonzaga tries to add a WCC Tournament title to its regular-season West Coast Conference crown.
The Bulldogs went a perfect 16-0 in the WCC and were 29-2 straight-up (16-11-2 against the spread) overall. The No. 2 seed in this tournament at 26-5 SU (15-12-1 ATS) and 14-2 SU in conference play are the Saint Mary's Gaels, who are probably the only other team in this field of nine that has an actual chance of winning it all.
Both Gonzaga and Saint Mary's will remain out of action until Saturday’s semifinals.
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The winner of Wednesday’s game will face No. 5 San Francisco, who finished the regular season 14-15 SU overall and 7-9 in conference play. The Dons are certainly not one of the power teams in the WCC but they were a profitable wager this season at 17-7-1 ATS.
The other second-round game on Thursday pits No. 6 San Diego vs. No. 7 Pepperdine. The Toreros went 7-9 in conference play as well and were 14-17 SU (14-12-1 ATS) overall. The Waves were 12-17 SU (14-10-1 ATS) and just 4-12 in the WCC.
These two met twice this season with San Diego winning both games SU and ATS; it won by 12 points on January 12 as a 1.5-point road underdog and closed out the regular season with a 76-69 victory over Pepperdine as a 5.5-point home favorite.
The total stayed UNDER the 121-point line on the college basketball betting odds in their first meeting this year and went OVER the 125.5-point line this past Saturday.
The No. 4 seed in this tournament are the Santa Clara Broncos, who finished the regular season 9-7 in WCC play and 21-10 SU overall. They failed to cover in six of their final eight games to finish 11-15 ATS and the total stayed UNDER in four of their last six games.
The BYU Cougars went 10-6 SU in conference play to secure the No. 3 seed for this tournament. They were also 21-10 SU, and they went 13-16-1 ATS after failing to cover in six of their last nine games. The total went OVER in five of their last eight games.
West Coast Conference Tournament Odds - courtesy of :
Gonzaga 4/11
St. Mary's 5/2
BYU 10/1
Santa Clara 22/1
San Diego 33/1
San Francisco 33/1
Pepperdine 200/1
Portland 200/1
Loyola Marymount 250/1
Wednesday, March 6 - Opening Round
9:00 PM ET - No. 9 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 8 Portland
Thursday, March 7 - Second Round
9:00 PM ET - No. 8/9 vs. No. 5 San Francisco
11:30 PM ET - No. 7 Pepperdine vs. No. 6 San Diego
Friday, March 8 - Quarterfinals
9:00 PM ET - No. 5/8/9 vs. No. 4 Santa Clara
11:30 PM ET - No. 6/7 vs. No. 3 BYU
Saturday, March 9 - Semifinals
9:00 PM ET - No. 4/5/8/9 vs. No. 1 Gonzaga
11:30 PM ET - No. 3/6/7 vs. No. 2 Saint Mary’s
Monday, March 11 - Championship Game
9:00 PM ET - Semifinal Winners
