How are the rankings looking ahead of the next round of college basketball fixtures?

Basketball fans would have been overjoyed with the return of the NBA in early October. Already, we’ve seen some classic games, and have an idea of which sides the bookmakers are saying are odds on favourites to make it to the playoffs.

The Miami Heat are one such team, currently top of the Eastern Conference. For their upcoming match against the Washington Wizards on the 21st of November, some betmakers have the Heat as -7 to win this match up. The Wizards are also near the top of the Easten Conference , so it promises to be an intriguing game for people placing bets watching at home.

It’s not just the NBA where the season has begun, as after months of waiting, the 2021/22 college basketball season has started. Not only have the games begun on the courts across the United States, but the action online has too, as bettors search for odds and place bets on their favorite teams and players. Up and down the country, NCAAB odds will be closely looked at by basketball fans, to see which teams are looking at odds on favorites in their upcoming fixtures, and which teams need to be avoided.

Let’s take a look at who has started the season well, look at the current Top 25 in the college basketball rankings, and then preview some of the most interesting fixtures that are coming up in the next round of games.

Wolverines making moves, up and down

The Michigan Wolverines began the new season in fine form. In their opening fixture, they took on the Buffalo Bulls, where they looked relatively comfortable in their 88-76 victory. They looked even stronger 4 days later, when their opponents were the Prairie View A&M Panthers. In the first half the Wolverines were already 42-23 up, and by full time they had extended their lead even further, with the final score 77-49. At this point, they had moved up to 4 in the Top 25 rankings.

However, the good run was brought to an end by the Seton Hall Pirates. It was an incredibly tense affair, and Michigan were actually ahead at half time. However, Seton Hall fought back, and the game indeed 67-65 to the Pirates. The rankings haven’t been fully updated yet, but we expect the Wolverines to drop a few places after this loss.

They will be hoping it was just a minor blip, and will be looking to get back to winning ways up against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on the 20th of November. The Runnin’ Rebels are 3-0 so far this season, so it could be a close one. The spread consensus is -13.5 to Michigan, which does seem reasonable.

UCLA looking strong once again

One of the best performing sides so far in the whole of the NCAA so far this season are the UCLA Bruins. The 11 time NCAA Tournament Champions have a perfect 4-0 record thus far, and are only in 2nd place in the Pac-12 conference (Behind the Washington State Cougars) as they have played one game fewer.

An opening day victory against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners looked as simple as they come, as a huge first half (47-19 to the Bruins) put them in great stead, as the match ended up 95-58. The following fixture was hotly anticipated, as they came up against the Villanova Wildcats, who were very close to them in the Top 25 rankings. It was a close game, but the Bruins had enough to win 86-77.

2 further big scores followed, as both the Long Beach State 49ers (100-79) and the North Florida Ospreys (98-63) were put to the sword. This puts UCLA comfortably in 2nd in the rankings. Their next fixture is up against the Bellarmine Knights, who have started the season with 3 straight losses. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to the Bruins as heavy favorites in the betting odds.

Will Gonzaga achieve an unbeaten season?

In the previous campaign, the Gonzaga Bulldogs came oh so close to having a perfect season. They won the West Coast with ease, with a conference record of 15-0. In fact, they won all of their opening 31 matches, taking them to the NCAA Tournament Championship game. Unfortunately, that was the only game they lost in the whole year, and couldn’t add anything to their trophy cabinet.

They look on a mission to right the wrongs of last year, and beat every single team they come up against. The first 3 fixtures have seen 3 wins, against the Dixie State Trailblazers (97-63) the Texas Longhorns (86-74) and the Alcorn State Braves (84-57). Up next are the Bellarmine Knights, which looks like an easy win for the Bulldogs, who are -28.5 on the spread.