Feast Week for college basketball is one of the most electric traditions in all of sports. The Maui Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis have long been the premier tournaments that draw national attention, but attracting the biggest name programs has become harder as the new Players Era Festival offering teams significant NIL incentives is shifting the balance and reshaping where top schools choose to play.
There will plenty of hot dishes served up over the next six days, and it’s only fair that you should take advantage and cash in courtesy of the Wanna Bet? guys. Here are a few Feast Week futures we like.
Alabama to Win the Players Era Festival (+1500) FanDuel
The Players Era Festival is a tricky one because it’s not a bracket tournament. So we will see multiple teams go 2-0 and not qualify for the championship game. In a tournament like this, taking a big favorite probably isn’t even worth it. We found a play with great value.
Alabama is set to face Gonzaga and UNLV. The Tide’s chances to win this tournament come down to their first matchup where they’ll be somewhere around a 5.5 point underdog against Gonzaga. That game will be tight and if they win it won’t be much of an advantage for point differential. It won’t be easy, but there is certainly a chance that Labaron Philon takes this game over leading Alabama to a massive win as he’s already done twice at Madison Square Garden against No. 5 St. John’s and at the United Center against No. 8 Illinois.
Alabama’s second matchup against UNLV could be a 20-plus-point victory for the Crimson Tide. We know that Alabama is going to play at a super high pace under Nate Oats and not much defense. But their points allowed won’t matter if they can win two games and have a good enough point differential. Defense has been a massive issue for the Runnin’ Rebels in year one under Josh Pastner and Alabama is not a team that will help them figure things out.
Texas To Win the Maui Invitational (+210) ESPNBet
The Longhorns got a very good draw in this tournament. NC State is the favorite as expected with their great play in year one under Will Wade. But they got a bit of a tougher test. Texas will face Arizona State in the first round and will get a matchup with the winner of Washington State and Chaminade in the semi-finals if they’re able to win. Sean Miller has the Longhorns defending well through his first few games with the program. Their portal additions look strong and getting back guys like Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope has been crucial for the offense. We like their draw better than NC State and will take our chances with them pulling off a slight upset in the finale against the Wolfpack if it comes down to that.
Best Bets: Seth's Top 10 Futures Bets for the New Season
Seth Davis’ futures bets: Arkansas and Duke to win it all? Gonzaga for the Final Four?
Vanderbilt to Win the Battle 4 Atlantis (-125) FanDuel
We never like giving out future plays that are juiced, but we’re willing to do it for a three-day tournament. The only other team we considered was Virginia Tech at +650, but Vandy is the better squad.
The depth that Mark Byington has put together for is impressive. Losing Jason Edwards and his 17 points per game to Providence was tough for the Commodores, but getting back two anchors in Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel was huge. We’ve seen a massive leap in year two for Tyler Tanner. The late portal addition of Duke Miles has been great for Vandy as well. They’ve only had one true test so far as they took down UCF 105-93 in Orlando. That win has looked better over the past week as the Knights have picked up solid wins.
The Commodores’ draw is favorable as they’ll face Western Kentucky in the opening round and the winner of VCU and USF in the semi-final if they advance. We like getting value on tournament futures, but we side with the favorite here.
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