Breaking Down Maryland, Providence & More

Many of the early-season and holiday-themed multi-team events (MTEs) in college basketball feature a few good matchups, but often have some cakewalks in the early rounds.

That’s not the case at Mohegan Sun for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off, with four competitive teams that all have NCAA tournament aspirations.

Come March, the winner of this event will surely consider it a chip on their at-large resume, with the team that loses twice lamenting November losses that could have had a major impact.

All four games should make for good viewing, with a betting angle to be found in each of them.

We’ll break down the early-season outlook for each of the four teams, then determine where the value is for your wagers this weekend.

When I took to Twitter this fall to make some season-long predictions, I didn’t want to go chalk and suggest that the four best teams would reach the Final Four. Where’s the fun in that? So, I started digging into some second-tier candidates with eyes on a run in the postseason.

The team that jumped out to me: Saint Louis.

I love the make-up of this Billikens roster.

Last year, Gibson Jimerson scored 16 points per game as one of the best shooters in the nation. He’s already showing improvement, posting 19 points per game thanks to 46% shooting on his nine long-range attempts per game.

While Gibson is the top scorer, point guard Yuri Collins is operating the controls for Travis Ford’s offense. Last season, he posted 7.9 assists per game, ranking second in the Atlantic 10 in assist rate. This season, through three games, he’s dishing 12 assists per night!

He’s one of the most creative and efficient guards in the nation. Collins opened the season with a 14-assist, zero-turnover outing in a win over Murray State.

Javonte Perkins returns, as well. With opposing backcourts focused on Collins and defenses spread by Jimerson, Perkins takes full advantage and can score at every level of the court.

This trio of homegrown talent is aided by two power-conference transfers who make the Billikens more athletic and dynamic.

Francis Okoro joined SLU from Oregon before last season and anchors the rebounding efforts, nabbing eight per game last year and 12 per game so far this season.

Javon Pickett joins from Mizzou, where he was a double-digit scorer in the SEC.

Saint Louis has the makings of an NCAA tournament team, but needs to capitalize on chances for quality wins. The Atlantic 10 currently has just one other team in the top 80 of KenPom’s rankings (Dayton, picked to win the conference in the preseason poll).

This weekend, Saint Louis has two critical chances to build its tournament resume.

The Billikens’ first opponent comes from the Big Ten, with Kevin Willard steering Maryland for the first time after his 13 years at Seton Hall.

It was a curious hire in an active coaching carousel. Mark Turgeon was let go,…