Summit League Semifinals Betting - Oral Roberts vs. IUPUI
by Tim Furious
The Summit League is often one that people don’t ever care about. Oakland is running away with the conference title, and will likely be the opponent of whomever win the Oral Roberts-IUPUI tilt. Oakland’s strong 17-1 SU conference record is the only one better than either of these teams.
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles hold a 13-5 SU record in the conference, ranking them third amongst all Summit League teams. Only six games have had betting lines involving the Golden Eagles, and they haven’t exactly won over the betting public. They’re just 2-3-1 ATS against the oddsmakers this year.
Oral Roberts actually dominates the head-to-head trends between the two. They’ve gone 8-2 SU against the Jaguars and the games have been considered so unimportant, the oddsmakers have only set a betting line on one meeting between the two. In 2008, Oral Roberts covered a -3.5 point line in a 71-64 win over IUPUI.
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (20-12) vs. IUPUI Jaguars (23-9)
Monday, March 8th --- IUPUI Gymnasium --- 9:30pm EST
NCAAB Betting Line: IUPUI -3 (135)
Yet this IUPUI team is much stronger than it ever has been. With a 15-3 SU record, they hold the second best overall and conference record in the Summit League. Senior Robert Glen leads the team with 19.6 points per game, while sophomore Alex Young is second with 18.4 points of his own.
In five games with betting spreads this season, IUPUI has gone 3-2 ATS, although one of those spreads was a -14.0 line in a 77-68 victory over Western Illinois. I don’t care how good or bad teams are, a team in the Summit League should never get double-digit points over anybody and you’d be a fool to bet that line.
That being said, the Jaguars are a formidable team at home. They average 78.8 points per game at home, a clear advantage over Oral Roberts’ away average of 72.5 points per game. These two teams played three weeks ago on Oral Roberts’ home court, and the 60-61 point loss by IUPUI may have stalled their development, but it definitely showed that they had the salt to turn this series around.
They may not have the stuff to get past Oakland and actually win the conference outright, but tonight against Oral Roberts, they’ll do just enough to clear the betting line in the OVER. The home court advantage tips this one in IUPUI’s favor, which is something I have never written about this basketball team.
Furious Free Pick: IUPUI -3 (OVER)
