Here at Action Network, we'll have full college basketball conference previews for 16 of the 31 Division I men's hoops leagues before the season tips off on November 4.
But what about the other 15 mid-to-low major leagues?
We certainly didn't forget about them, as there are some intriguing races and betting value further down the odds board.
Jim Root of Three Man Weave breaks down the favorites and sleepers for 15 college basketball conferences below, including college basketball mid-major predictions.
Odds via BetMGM unless otherwise noted
Favorites & Sleepers for 15 Mid-Major Leagues
ASUN
Favorite: Lipscomb (-145)
The Bison are loaded and have a widely respected coach in Lennie Acuff.
Last year’s team competed well without Jacob Ognacevic, a completely dominant interior scorer. With Ognacevic now healthy, Lipscomb can unleash him with the deadly guard duo of Will Pruitt and Joe Anderson.
I'll confess I was surprised to see the Bison as this steep of a favorite, though, as the ASUN is a highly competitive league.
Sleeper(s): Eastern Kentucky (+1000) & Queens (+3000)
Because Lipscomb is priced the way it is, I think there’s plenty of value down the ASUN odds board.
EKU is the reigning regular season champ and has an all-conference star in Devontae Blanton.
Queens is a dart throw at an intriguing group of newcomers, led by JUCO import Asjon Anderson and Fresno State transfer Leo Colimerio.
Big Sky
Favorite(s): Weber State (+180) & Montana (+275)
You could throw Montana State (+450) into this group and cover most of your bases.
Weber State has four key contributors back, but it loses Dillon Jones to the NBA, who led the Wildcats in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
For my money, Montana is the best team in the conference, but +275 doesn’t offer much value (Caesars has +350).
At these prices, Montana State is most appealing thanks to a terrific coach and a huge lineup full of impressive positional size.
Sleeper: Northern Colorado (+625)
Steve Smiley is a tremendous offensive mind, and “the other UNC” snuck up to a tie for second in the Big Sky last year despite losing Dalton Knecht.
More personnel attrition took place this offseason, but Smiley has his maestro (point guard Jaron Rillie) back in the fold.
San Francisco transfer Isaiah Hawthorne could be Smiley’s next supercharged scoring star.
Big South
Favorite: High Point (-250)
I’ll rarely recommend a team priced like this in the preseason, but if you split High Point’s squad like a baseball team in spring training, they'd still be the two best units in the Big South.
Coach Alan Huss should be on speed dial for high-majors seeking a promising young mind.
High Point should crack the top 100 nationally this year.
Sleeper: Longwood (+800)
Speaking of great mid-major coaches, Griff Aldrich has a great thing going in Farmville, Virginia. His Lancers have made two of the last three NCAA Tournaments, and his offseason work in the transfer portal gives Longwood a fighting chance to unseat heavy favorite High Point.
Division II transfer KJ McClurg is a walking bucket.
Big West
Favorite: UC Irvine (-140)
UC Irvine has been a juggernaut under Russell Turner. Under his defensive-minded approach, the Anteaters have won or tied for seven of the last 11 Big West regular season championships.
They now bring back four starters from last year’s title winner, and this price might not be steep enough.
The only thing that can stop Irvine is a question mark at point guard.
Sleeper: UC Riverside (+1200)
Mike Magpayo is responsible for some of UC Riverside’s best seasons.
Thanks to having arguably the league’s best backcourt in Isaiah Moses and Barrington Hargress, the Highlanders are a worthy gamble if you're not sold on UC Irvine’s core.
The other UC schools – Santa Barbara, UC Davis, San Diego – are all well-stocked, as well.
CAA
Favorite(s): Charleston (+175) & Towson (+225)
These two look like the clear league favorites and are appropriately priced as such.
Their appeals are in stark opposition, though. Charleston has a new coach (Chris Mack) and a ton of new transfers to go with two returnees. Towson, on the other hand, returns eight of its top nine scorers and is the continuity king of the league.
Sleeper: Monmouth (+1800)
Monmouth is a great upside pick, as the Hawks added a varied group of transfers, have an incendiary scoring prospect in Abdi Bashir and might have the best pro prospect in the conference in blossoming sophomore Jaret Valencia.
King Rice relied heavily on his son last year, but a more balanced approach could lead to a surprising challenge for the CAA crown.
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Horizon
Favorite(s): Logjam of Teams
In case these prices didn't strongly make it clear to you, the Horizon is a mess.
Purdue Fort Wayne (+275) returns the most, but it’s fair to wonder if that core has another gear to win the league.
Northern Kentucky’s best player is recovering from a torn ACL (+400).
Wright State (+450) has a new coach and lost three great scorers.
Milwaukee (+350) is probably the best blend of odds and upside among this group.
Sleeper: Green Bay (+2500)
You’ve probably heard about the swing for the fences taken by the Green Bay administration. Hiring Doug Gottlieb – he of zero college coaching experience – while not forcing him to leave his radio show is, um, risky.
And there’s a chance Green Bay implodes in the most spectacular way.
But Gottlieb also nabbed some talent – namely freshman Jeremiah Johnson and transfer Anthony Roy – that could theoretically elevate the Phoenix towards the top of a parity-filled Horizon.
MAAC
Favorite(s): Iona (+260) & Quinnipiac (+350)
Tobin Anderson’s first season at Iona didn't go well, with a disappointing 10-10 league finish. The traditional favorite in the MAAC, the Gaels return no one from that squad and hope that the refreshed roster is the right recipe for success.
Quinnipiac, on the other hand, took advantage of that power vacuum atop the standings to seize the regular season title. It has four starters back from that team and seems like a better bet than the riskier Gaels.
Sleeper: Merrimack (+900)
This is one of my favorite sleepers in this 15-conference article. Merrimack plays an extremely unconventional style that can be hard to handle if you haven’t seen it before, and the Warriors are new to the MAAC this season.
Their “concrete mixer zone” (as described once by Action Network writer emeritus Jordan Majewski) is game changer.
Plus, they have a star in guard Budd Clark, a boomerang transfer in Malik Edmead and a bevy of useful complementary pieces.
MEAC
Favorite(s): Howard (+200), Norfolk State (+225) & NC Central (+225)
Pick your poison among these three evenly-matched favorites.
My money would go on Norfolk State: Robert Jones has finished first or second in 10 of his 11 seasons in charge of the program, and the Spartans have a potentially killer guard trio in Christian Ings (now fully healthy from a torn ACL), Murray State transfer Brian Moore Jr. and Winthrop transfer Sin’Cere McMahon.
Sleeper: None
This is an eight-team league that's been thoroughly dominated by the above three teams. They've comprised the top three of the standings in all three years of the MEAC’s current construction. No need to make any other team sound appealing, as one of that trio is going to win.
Northeast Conference
Favorite(s): Wagner (+120) & Central Connecticut (+250)
It's telling that Wagner, a team that went 7-9 in the league and lost its three top scorers to the transfer portal, is the clear favorite.
The NEC is down, especially following the departures of Sacred Heart and Merrimack to the MAAC.
The Seahawks do return six (yes, six) players who suffered season-ending injuries, though.
CCSU gets an injured starter of its own back (Jay Rodgers) and returns five other rotation pieces.
Sleeper: Mercyhurst (+3000)
In my view, Wagner and CCSU are the only good teams in this league.
For a wild card, though, Mercyhurst’s mysteriousness is somewhat appealing. Like Merrimack in the MAAC (and like Merrimack arriving in the NEC), the Lakers bring a new style to the conference.
Perhaps that could allow them to steal a title in a league without a powerhouse.
Ohio Valley
Favorite(s): Little Rock (+150) & Morehead State (+200)
Last year’s OVC regular season title was shared by three teams: these two favorites and UT Martin, which is way down at 100/1 after losing everyone including its coach.
Little Rock has arguably the league’s best player in point guard KK Robinson and a couple of tantalizing transfers.
I wouldn't advise betting Morehead at this short of a price given the question marks around new coach Jonathan Mattox, plus a “TBD” new roster.
Sleeper: Western Illinois (+800)
These Leathernecks just missed making the OVC a four-way tie last year. Chad Boudreau impressed in his D-I head coaching debut, and he returns his best player (Ryan Myers) to pair with a high-upside group of transfers.
WIU is nipping at the heels of the favorites in my eyes, so taking this price is a no-brainer for me.
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Patriot League
Favorite: Colgate (+130)
Over the past three seasons, Colgate has won the regular season by six games, six games and four games. The surprising transfer of star point guard Braeden Smith to Gonzaga may have disrupted the Raiders’ developmental assembly line, though.
Seeing a plus sign next to the Raiders is a rarity based on how high Matt Langel has elevated the program.
As a result, this Colgate team isn't the same dominant force of past years. They’re still rightly the favorite, but there’s a lot more uncertainty in where the Raiders’ production will come from outside of bruising center Jeff Woodward.
Sleeper: Lehigh (+750)
Lehigh made a run to the Patriot Tournament final in March, and the Mountain Hawks probably have the best and deepest backcourt in the league. Dr. Brett Reed has overseen some great teams in Bethlehem, PA, and if he can find some interior production, Lehigh could be the long-awaited usurper to Colgate’s throne.
As a bonus, Army at 60/1 isn't an altogether insane wager. Though not the bruising force that their football team is, the Black Knights reinforced a young lineup with Jalen Rucker. An electric point guard, Rucker is arguably the best player in the league, despite sitting out last season.
Southland
Favorite: McNeese (-500)
Will Wade is back for his second year after winning the Southland by three games in his debut campaign.
Frighteningly, his roster might be even more talented this time around, and it’s by far the deepest crop of talent in the league.
The Cowboys are justifiably an enormous favorite, and the 83.3% implied probability to win the league is entirely reasonable. No other Southland program is in KenPom’s preseason top 200; McNeese is 98th.
Sleeper: Stephen F. Austin (+600)
Ok, “sleeper” is being used lightly here, as SFA is actually second on the odds board.
But McNeese is so far ahead of the pack that it would take something crazy to top it.
Kyle Keller’s Lumberjacks might have the depth and pressure defense to pull it off if McNeese’s pieces don't gel.
I wouldn’t get cute, though. McNeese is a landslide favorite and is priced appropriately so.
Sun Belt
Favorite: Arkansas State (+175)
The Red Wolves already had a chance to be the best team in the Sun Belt. But then, Bryan Hodgson (a Nate Oats disciple) went and swiped Kobe Julien, arguably the best player in the conference, from rival Louisiana.
Paired with four other returnees who averaged 9.8 points per game or more, Julien’s arrival justifiably slots Arkansas State atop the preseason odds.
However, in a topsy-turvy conference, I don’t think the Red Wolves hold much betting value.
Sleeper: James Madison (+475)
The Dukes lost almost every relevant piece from last year’s Round of 32 juggernaut, and Mark Byington is now coaching Vanderbilt.
But new boss Preston Spradlin bullied his old league (the OVC) while at Morehead State, and he reeled in an incredibly deep roster with plenty of upside. It helps to get Mark Freeman back, the 2022-23 OVC Player of the Year for Spradlin at Morehead, who missed last season with injury.
If you really want to get crazy, the Southern Miss backcourt of Neftali Alvarez and nostalgic name Andre Curbelo has upside at 25/1. I personally won't be buying in, though.
SWAC
Favorite(s): Texas Southern (+200) & Southern (+225)
Johnny Jones has been a fixture near the top of the SWAC while at Texas Southern. However, his dominance has come more in the do-or-die SWAC Tournament.
The Tigers haven't won the league since 2017, and this isn't one of their most loaded rosters.
Southern also appears mispriced with a second-year head coach and only a decent mix of newcomers.
Sleeper(s): Jackson State (+1400) & Prairie View A&M (+4000)
Jackson State was a darling last preseason until Daeshun Ruffin tore his ACL. Now healthy, he might be the best player in the conference, and there’s enough around him to make 14/1 interesting.
Further down, Prairie View A&M has fully reset the roster, but Byron Smith has been great in this league before. A reset might actually be just what the doctor ordered.
WAC
Favorite: Grand Canyon (-1000)
Grand Canyon returns four starters from a 30-win team that finished top 60 nationally, per KenPom.
To backfill that one key loss, Bryce Drew landed JaKobe Coles, the sixth man on two straight NCAA Tournament teams at TCU. Tyon Grant-Foster is on NBA draft boards as a lethal scoring wing.
The Antelopes have arguably the best home court advantage in the mid-major world. They're deservingly a laughably heavy favorite to win the WAC once again.
Sleeper: Seattle (+1400)
Look, this is GCU’s playground. The Antelopes are operating on a completely different financial playing field than their competition, and the pricing reflects that.
If you have some concern over the Lopes and need to get involved, I’d go with Seattle. The Redhawks return a solid amount of production while adding talented transfers in Maleek Arington (11.8 PPG, 4.8 APG) and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (formerly of Oklahoma State and Georgia).
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