Baylor, Creighton good teams to bet on

Don’t look now but the start of the college basketball season is right around the corner. I wager on college basketball from opening night to the national championship game and I’m always on the lookout for value in the futures market.

Last October I bet Kansas at 18/1 to cut down the nets and that worked out well.

This year I think there are two teams bettors should consider wagering on before the season tips off on Nov. 7. Odds from BetMGM.

Baylor Bears (16/1)

The Bears remind me of Kansas entering last season. Like the Jayhawks, Baylor is coming off a “down” year and because of that, there is some value in this number.

Baylor lost to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. However, the Bears were a little over-seeded after limping into March Madness. Key departures from the national championship team and injuries to important players like G LJ Cryer and F Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua made Baylor ripe for the picking. Cryer was the Bears’ leading scorer before he was lost for the season in February.

Baylor is back with a vengeance this season. Cryer, Adam Flagler and highly touted freshman Keyonte George give the Bears arguably the best trio of guards in the country, while Flo Thamba, Zach Loveday, Joshua Ojianwuna, Caleb Lohner and Tchamwa-Tchatchoua highlight a deep and athletic frontline.

Last season, Baylor was a good offensive-rebounding team and defended the perimeter well, like always. However, the Bears were a little soft in the paint, ranking 159th in 2-point percentage defense, according to KenPom. If that improves, watch out.

Guards win in March and Baylor has three of the best in college basketball. The Bears should be in great position to secure a No. 1 seed again in the NCAA Tournament and if that’s the case, no way the Bears will be 16/1 to win it all. Grab it now.

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Creighton Bluejays (25/1)

Last April when Kansas was making its historic comeback against North Carolina in the national championship game, sportsbooks posted odds for the 2022-23 champion. Maybe they weren’t paying attention but they all hung awful opening numbers on Creighton.

I grabbed the Bluejays 100/1 at BetMGM and 80/1 and some other books right away. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one because within an hour, Creighton dropped to 50/1 across the board. Then, after landing highly sought after South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman, the number settled at the current odds of 25/1.

Obviously, the early value I got is long gone but 25/1 still isn’t awful for the favorites to win the Big East Conference. The reason I’m so high on Creighton is this was one of the youngest teams in the country last year and returns loads of talent, including PG Ryan Nembhard and C Ryan Kalkbrenner (Big East Defensive Player of the Year).

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Nembhard and Kalkbrenner were injured late last season and missed the NCAA Tournament. Even without its two stars, Creighton put a scare into eventual-champion Kansas before losing 79-72 in the second round. Now sophomores, both will contend for Big East Player of the Year honors. Add in a sharpshooter like Scheierman (16.2 ppg) and Creighton is a dangerous team with three star players that will make them tough to beat in March.

The Bluejays did lose two of their top three scorers from last year and with a challenging schedule early in the season, there’s a chance Creighton could get off to a slower start than many pundits are expecting. You might want to roll the dice and wait for a better number but getting one of the most talented teams in the country at 25/1 isn’t the worst bet in the world.