Is Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (+275) Running Away With The Wooden Award?

Our Liverpool Champions League parlay hit yesterday, my guy Arthur Jackson is walking away with $100 🤑 — let’s talk NCAAM favorites 👇

Shoutout Harry Singer and Lucas Marshall for reading, I got a pair of OT Classic shorts coming your way 💧

NCAA Championship Outlook

While Gonzaga has maintained their spot as the de facto title favorite for the majority of the college basketball season, the list of other March Madness contenders has been in a constant state of fluctuation. With just under a month until Selection Sunday, take a look at the current title odds 👇

Odds to win the 2022 NCAA Tournament (subject to change)

• Gonzaga: +400 (bet $100, win $400)

• Arizona: +800

• Kentucky: +900

• Purdue/Auburn: +1000

• Duke: +1300

• Baylor/Kansas: +1500

• UCLA/Villanova: +2500

The biggest takeaway from that list, aside from Gonzaga’s distance from the pack, is the diversity among the nation’s elite 🧐

• The WCC and each of the Power Five conferences have a team checking in with top-seven title odds

• Not too far behind is the Big East (Villanova at +2500) and the AAC (Houston at +3500)

The newly implemented transfer rules surely have something to do with the wide distribution of talent all across the country, and inter-conference action has already given us a glimpse of the mayhem in store come tournament time. But if not Gonzaga, who should you be putting your money on?

• A four-point loss to Arkansas in OT last week is the only blemish on Auburn’s (+1000) resume since Thanksgiving. Led by future top-five pick Jabari Smith and the imposing Walker Kessler, the Tigers are deep, talented, and have long been my pick to win it all

• The only team to spend as much time ranked #1 as Gonzaga this season, Baylor (+1500) has seen their title odds tumble in recent weeks, and they lost a tough one last night at Texas Tech. But trust that last year’s champs have both the experience and the upside to bring it home again 🏆

Wooden Watch

How about the race for college basketball’s top individual honor? Similar to the title odds, a heavy favorite has emerged, followed by a crowded pack of hopeful contenders. See for yourself 👇

Odds to win the 2022 Wooden Award

• Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky): +275

• Kofi Cockburn (Illinois): +500

• Ochai Agbaji (Kansas): +700

• Johnny Davis (Wisconsin): +1000

• Paolo Banchero (Duke): +1200

• Jaden Ivey (Purdue): +1400

While it looked like truly anyone’s race for much of the season, Tshiebwe’s recent surge up the board is certainly warranted— Kentucky’s star big man has been utterly dominant recently. But there’s still time for him to be dethroned by a number of talented playmakers 🧐

• If you’re looking for someone with a chance of going nuclear over the season’s last month, Johnny Davis (+1000) could be your guy. The electric guard went for 30 points and 12 boards his last time out, the eighth time he’s dropped 25+ points

• Likely hoping to hear his name called first in the NBA Draft this year, Paolo Banchero (+1200) has as much incentive as anyone to put on a show for the rest of the season. Maybe the star freshman can end Coach K’s career in style 😎

Trivia question: If Tshiebwe does win the Wooden Award, surprisingly, he’d only be Kentucky’s second honoree ever. Who was the first? (answer below)

Tonight’s Action

Enough looking ahead, let’s focus on what’s going down tonight. It’s a relatively quiet Thursday as far as high-profile action goes, but there’s still some enticing matchups worth checking out 👇

〽️ Michigan @ Iowa

• Spread: Iowa -6

• Moneyline: Iowa -240 (bet $240, win $100), Michigan +195 (bet $100, win $195)

• Over/Under: 151.5

A preseason top-10 team, Michigan did not expect its tournament hopes to be hanging on by a thread at this point in the year. Firmly on the bubble, every matchup is huge for the Wolverines moving forward

• While safely in the field (for now), Iowa’s margin for error is still slim in an always-competitive Big Ten. Winners of three straight, Keegan Murray (averaging 30.3 PPG over that span) and the Hawkeyes will look to stay hot tonight 🔥

⚔️ UCF @ #14 Houston

• Spread: Houston -14

• Moneyline: Houston -1250, UCF +650

• Over/Under: 136.5

Can Houston get back on track? The Cougars ended a 12-game win streak with back-to-back losses last week, but the dark horse title contender could make a statement tonight against a quality conference opponent 

• Houston come out on top 63-49 when these teams met in Orlando earlier this season. It was the lowest scoring total of the season for the Knights, who were held to just 34.6% shooting from the field 🥶

For My Parlay Gurus

It’s a steep line, but I think Houston comes out tonight on a mission and cruises past a familiar foe at home. I’m going with both the Cougars and the Hawkeyes to cover tonight; take a look at this parlay 👇

• Iowa -6 vs. Michigan: -114

• Houston -14 vs. UCF: -110

$100 on this bet would net $258 — if we hit, make sure to email [email protected] for $100*. First come, first serve 😉

Trivia question: Anthony Davis won the Wooden Award in 2012, following a dominant season that ended in a national title for the Wildcats. AD became just the second freshman to win the award, following Kevin Durant (Zion Williamson has since joined that list as well). Here’s how Tshiebwe’s season stacks up against AD’s