Week 11 NFL Moneyline Underdogs
Mike Randle
Check out our entire college basketball season preview!
The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.
Let’s start with the best conference in college basketball, the Big 12. Last season, the conference added four new teams in Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF. This year, the conference expanded to 16 teams, with Arizona State, Utah, Colorado and Arizona bolstering an already-elite conference. The Big 12 says farewell to Texas and Oklahoma, who are now in the SEC.
Let’s take a look at our betting preview for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: West Virginia Mountaineers
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Darian DeVries (1st Season)
2022-2023 Record: 9-23 (4-14)
ATS: 13-19
O/U: 17-14-1
Projected Starters: G Javon Small; G Jayden Stone; F Tucker DeVries; F Toby Okani; C Amani Hansbery
Last year I wrote:
Fade, fade, fade. The Mountaineers start with three straight home games against Missouri State, Monmouth and Jacksonville State. Each one projects as a double-digit line for the Mountaineers, exactly where we like it. They do not play a true road game until Jan. 6, where they open conference play at Houston. They are projected at 3-15 within Big 12 play in KenPom, which may be optimistic.
Well, the Mountaineers went 4-14, which exceeded expectations by one game. But they ended the year losing 12 of their last 14 contests, producing a poor 13-19 record ATS. While they did cover two of those first three games, the outright 73-65 home loss to Monmouth was a harbinger of things to come.
New head coach Darian DeVries brings a new style and appropriate optimism to Morgantown. DeVries never won fewer than 20 games in his six seasons at Drake and brings several familiar faces with a history of winning to West Virginia. His son, Tucker DeVries, was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, as well as familiar face Joseph Yesufu, who earned another season after suffering a hip injury with Washington State last year. West Virginia also adds Oklahoma State’s Javon Small (15 PPG, 37.4% 3P), the leading scorer for the Cowboys last season. DeVries’ history of winning brought eight total transfers and the overall No. 6 transfer ranking from 247 Sports.
Key Player: Tucker DeVries/Javon Small
This team has a chance for a massive turnaround. DeVries is a star, and his game should translate to the Big 12. Small already showed he can produce stats against Big 12 competition, even on a struggling team as the focus of the opposing defense. Stone and Yesufu are solid players, but DeVries and Small can make this an NCAA Tournament team if they raise their already high ceiling.
Projection
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