NCAAB Best Bets: 2024-25 College Basketball Season Kickoff

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00:05356 Division 1 men's and women's college basketball games to start the 2024-25 college basketball

00:14season on this Monday.

00:16And Donny Wright's side will watch each and every one.

00:19DRS, let's go big picture though, to welcome people to this new year in college hoops.

00:25We start on the men's side, looking at the national championship odds.

00:29Duke is the number 17 in the country.

00:32And yet Duke, with an incredibly talented freshman class, five guys that will factor

00:36into John Shire's rotation, all ranked in the top 18 of the 2024 recruiting class, are

00:43a big reason why the Blue Devils are the favorites to win the national championship.

00:48And not just those five guys, but number one of one of one of one, his name, Cooper Flagg.

00:53He is going to be the number one overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

00:57He will play his college basketball season in Durham.

01:01Just behind, though, you will see Connecticut, UConn 11-1, the two-time rating national champ

01:07Stan Hurley using this graphics board as further motivation for his Huskies team because he

01:14always finds an angle.

01:16Donny, let's start with Connecticut.

01:18Will you be betting the Huskies at any point this year to win a third consecutive national

01:23title?

01:24I mean, there could be a chance.

01:26I always talk about this as being the silly season, which starts now, early November all

01:29the way through December.

01:30A lot of at-a-conference thing, a lot of getting your rotations down, a lot of learning about

01:34these teams before we actually get into conference play, which I love starting in January.

01:38You would have told me mid-February through the end of April, fantastic.

01:43But this part is a little bit hard, trying to get the no-teams, and also much harder

01:46in this day and age of the transfers.

01:47We were just going over a big game tonight and saying, ooh, I remember this name from

01:51somewhere because I just don't know who these players are this early in the season.

01:55But the one thing I do know is, I know who the coaches are, I know who the good ones

01:58are, and Hurley may be the best out of the bunch in the entire nation.

02:02So if I'm just looking without seeing the full roster for UConn at an 11-to-1 price,

02:06that sounds about right.

02:07Because I know Hurley, come time for tournament time, this team, whether or not they're great

02:11to start the season, they will be great by the time they get to the tournament.

02:16For sure.

02:17And they did lose a lot of the pieces that we know from last year's team, and of course

02:19the team even the year before that, that won the first national championship in stores.

02:24Donovan Klingin, Steph Castle, both lottery picks in the NBA.

02:28Tristan Newton, that steady point guard presence who did it all is gone.

02:32Alex Caraban returns, talented freshman class for UConn as well.

02:37They added a couple of transfer pieces, like Aiden Mahaney, I believe the name is, I might

02:41be forgetting his last name, a transfer from St. Mary's.

02:45UConn is going to be there.

02:46The Big East is going to be a great conference as well.

02:50In fact, the Huskies try to make history.

02:53No team has won three consecutive national championships in men's college hoops since

02:58John Wooden left UCLA from 67 to 73.

03:02That's a seven-peat.

03:04The most recent back-to-back national champs and the result in that third straight season,

03:10Duke in 93, bounced in the round of 32, 2008 Florida missed the tournament.

03:16We shall see about UConn again.

03:18They are talented and Dan Hurley is the best coach, in my opinion, currently in college

03:23basketball.

03:24UConn will be a tournament team.

03:26How deep they go, that remains to be seen.

03:29Just one final point on the Huskies before we look at the rest of the country.

03:33UConn is 33-1 in non-conference action.

03:37The last two seasons, including, of course, a perfect 12-0 in the NCAA tournament, all

03:4212 victories by double digits.

03:44The average margin of victory for UConn in non-conference action, including the tourney,

03:50in the last two years is 23.7 points per game.

03:53The only loss was against a top-five Kansas team on a Friday night last December DRS in

03:59a wildly close game down to the buzzer in Lawrence against KU, who by the way, the Jayhawks

04:05entered the year as the number one team in the preseason poll for a second consecutive

04:09season.

04:10Yeah, but you're also looking at that top, right?

04:13Duke, that plus 950 price.

04:14If you go down to 20-1, the furthest part there is Auburn.

04:17But I do want to focus on Duke and some things that we talk about just being fans of college

04:20basketball.

04:21Like when the hated teams have their good players and look like they might be able to

04:26go and run like Duke.

04:27Like Cooper Flagg is a sensational player.

04:29Anybody reading up on what this kid can actually do for his age, they're going to be so much

04:33fun to watch, appreciate, and also hate at the same time.

04:37I think college basketball is in a really good spot this year.

04:40If Duke is really good, they're going to be must-watch television all the way through,

04:44no doubt about it, Ben.

04:46There are so many talented players on this Dukies team, of course, led by Cooper Flagg.

04:51Khanh Neupol is there.

04:53Come on, Maliwak is there as well.

04:55A very talented freshman core, Tyrese Proctor returns, Mason Gillis, the transfer from Purdue

05:01will provide some of that veteran experience.

05:04I'll just say this about the Blue Devils, that ACC price, okay, Final Four price, sure.

05:10We know now in this evolution of college basketball that veteran presence come the NCAA tournament

05:18and the month of March often win the day.

05:22So I would avoid the national championship price, especially being the shortest of any

05:27team entering the country.

05:29DRS, your thoughts on this?

05:31We found an interesting distinction.

05:32Of course, our beautiful show, The Early Line, is sponsored by the beautiful FanDuel

05:36sportsbook despite Donnie's battle with FD the last month or so.

05:42In certain spots, DRS, yeah, we're good now.

05:45Everything has been figured out there.

05:47In certain spots, Cooper Flagg, who was only 17 years old, turns 18 near the end of December.

05:54He has a price listed to win the Wooden Award, and in other sportsbook operators, he is the

06:00favorite.

06:02On FanDuel, he is not listed because he is only 17 years old and thus currently a minor.

06:08How will you use that to evaluate the individual award of the men's?

06:13What do you mean, he is?

06:14It's funny you just said that because we were always looking at that.

06:17I'm looking right now, John Warden, the winner, Cooper Flagg, Duke, plus 500 on FanDuel right

06:22now this morning.

06:23How about that?

06:24Because you're right about this.

06:25Kevin and I brought up this topic like a week and a half ago, like can you actually, I have

06:29him right here on my screen.

06:30Yeah, he's right there on my screen.

06:32I'm looking at it right now.

06:34Five to one price.

06:35But I get what you're saying, he's 17 so some books won't allow you to operate and bet him.

06:38I have him right now.

06:40Five to one.

06:41Should I bet it right now?

06:42What site do you have?

06:43Yeah, New Jersey, FanDuel.

06:45I'm looking at it right now, he's five to one.

06:49This is just a behind-the-scenes thing.

06:51Different states, of course, have different odds available and robust markets.

06:55I often use the Indiana site to see all of those betting markets available.

06:59He's got to drive over today, Ben.

07:02Drive over today, Ben.

07:03Come on now.

07:04Because I actually think he's going to win the award.

07:07Well look at that.

07:08Five to one price.

07:09So he's not listed on Indiana though, Dio.

07:11He's not here on Indiana.

07:13Huh?

07:14Yeah.

07:15Wow.

07:16I'm surprised.

07:17As Joe was saying in the background too, he's right about that.

07:20It wasn't there.

07:21Award and award favorite.

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