It’s conference tournament week in college lacrosse, and FanDuel and Caesars are both offering conference tournament odds.
Below, I'll take a look at two particular conference tournament markets and give my favorite long shots for those conferences. I'll also revisit the national championship odds and give a title future to bet right now.
If you’re an avid bettor who’s new to lacrosse or a lacrosse fan who’s new to betting, check out my guide on how to bet on lacrosse for some tips to use when placing a lacrosse bet.
College Lacrosse Conference Tournament Long Shots
I don’t see a ton of value across the 10 conference tournaments. Some conference tournaments — like the Atlantic 10, Big East and Colonial Athletic Association — are two-horse races where you’re better off just betting a side in the tournament championship game.
Other conferences — like the ACC and Ivy League — are so wide open that you could make a case for every team coming out on top. That said, there are two conference tournament markets I’m targeting this week.
The first is the ASUN, which features a six-team bracket with the top two teams enjoying a bye.
Top-seeded Utah is the odds-on favorite at -140, and while I think there's a great chance the Utes repeat as ASUN champs, there’s value on the other team with a bye: Air Force.
Despite enjoying a bye in the first round, Air Force opened at +650 — the third longest odds to win the tournament of the six ASUN teams. While their odds have been bet down to +500 already, this price is still too long for a Falcons team that beat four of the other five remaining ASUN teams, including Utah, this season.
The only team they failed to beat was Jacksonville, which has to play in the first round but has shorter odds at +210.
While these odds show that Jacksonville would be favored in a potential game against Air Force in the next round, their odds should be much closer to each other.
Air Force led Jacksonville, 9-6, with seven minutes left in their regular-season meeting before the Dolphins scored four straight and secured a 10-9 win.
These teams were extremely even in that first game, and the Falcons have a great shot at picking up the win in a potential rematch.
The Falcons won’t likely be any longer than -105 against Jacksonville or +200 against Utah. That makes betting Air Force to win the ASUN Tournament at +500 worth a half-unit wager.
The other conference tournament I’m targeting is the wide-open Patriot League.
A four-way tie for third place led to Colgate falling to the fifth seed and facing Boston University for the second week in a row. Had Colgate fended off the Terriers instead of losing, 13-12, it could have claimed one of the top seeds in the Patriot League Tournament.
Still, I think there's value in betting Colgate to make a Patriot League run at +900.
Colgate looked like the better team for much of its first game against Boston, picking apart the Terriers defense early and forcing turnovers.
The Raiders offense stalled a bit in the second half due to some big saves by Boston’s Will Barnes. The Raiders also eventually got exposed on the 10-man ride a few times, as Boston adjusted and put home an empty-net goal.
I think Colgate comes away with a win on Tuesday night, and like its potential path after. If the Raiders win, they'll face either an Army team they beat, 14-11, earlier in the season or a Lehigh team they played tight in a 9-7 loss.
I like their chances of an upset against both opponents and don’t expect their odds to be as long as their tournament price indicates.
Bet 0.25 unit on Colgate to win the Patriot League tournament at +900 at Caesars or FanDuel.
2024 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Futures
On April 2, I laid out why Virginia was a bad bet to win the 2024 National Championship at their previous odds of +450. Virginia was priced far too close to Notre Dame, Duke and Syracuse, and — as expected — they lost to all three of those ACC opponents in ensuing weeks.
The Cavaliers weren’t a team I wanted to pass on altogether, but I suggested waiting until after ACC regular-season play.
At +900, the wait is over. Now is the time to buy the Wahoos.
Virginia still meets the criteria for a contender I discussed earlier in April, ranking seventh in adjusted offensive efficiency and 15th in adjusted defensive efficiency with a net efficiency of 10.7% — still well above the 8.6% threshold.
Furthermore, while I still rank Virginia below its ACC rivals in South Bend, Durham and Syracuse, it has the potential to beat any of those three in a potential playoff rematch.
The Cavaliers were competitive in their games against the Irish and Orange.
They lost to Notre Dame by just two goals despite a disastrous second half marred by unforced turnovers and penalties. They were a goal away from beating Syracuse in a shootout, with Matthew Nunes and the Virginia defense looking uncharacteristically lost for half the game.
Their least-competitive ACC game came against Duke when they dealt with a handful of in-game injuries in an 18-12 loss.
Fortunately for Virginia, the odds of the Hoos playing all three of those teams in the NCAA Tournament are slim, and I think they’re still live to upset anybody they might face.
UVA was as long as +1000 following its two-goal loss to Notre Dame, and while that has dipped to +900 already, there's still value in betting Virginia to make a national title run at those odds.
If you don’t already have a future on them, now’s the time to bet the Cavaliers at +900 at bet365.
