The books aren't messing around with Gonzaga in this conference tournament. They have the Bulldogs as roughly 80% implied favorites to win the West Coast Conference Tournament, which tips off on Thursday night.
The odds are as steep as -380 at DraftKings. The best price on the market is with BetMGM at -375.
That's despite coming off a loss in their season finale against No. 2 seed Saint Mary's.
Saint Mary's has the No. 7 defense in the country, according to KenPom and is the 17th-best team overall.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga is the No. 1 team in college basketball and has top-five chops in almost every major offensive and defensive metric available.
By all accounts, the two teams will clash for the final of this tourney, which is scheduled to tip off next Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET.
West Coast Conference Tournament Odds
Odds are according to DraftKings as of Wednesday afternoon
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Gonzaga | -380 |
| Saint Mary's | +425 |
| Santa Clara | +1500 |
| San Francisco | +2500 |
| BYU | +3000 |
| Portland | +30000 |
| LMU | +30000 |
| San Diego | +50000 |
| Pacific | +50000 |
| Pepperdine | +50000 |
Gonzaga and Saint Mary's are all but assured a place in March Madness, with San Francisco a likely participant as well.
Curiously, Santa Clara has much shorter odds than San Francisco to win this tournament. That's a product of their side of the bracket, where they wouldn't have to face Gonzaga until the final.
Gonzaga and Saint Mary's both only need to win two contests to take down this conference title. For Gonzaga, it'll be a precursor to what it hopes will be bigger and better things.
At Saint Mary's, a conference tournament victory would be talked about for decades.
