Summit League Odds with Oral Roberts Favorite

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The men’s Summit League Tournament begins on Friday from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and all eyes will be on regular-season champion Oral Roberts. Led by star Max Abmas, the Governors went 18-0 in league play and are the -190 favorites to win the tournament as they should be.

What happens, though, if Oral Roberts doesn’t win it? Will it still get an NCAA Tournament at-large berth? The answer is probably no.

Does MyBookie have odds for NCAA basketball tournament? The answer is probably yes and a free pick.

Summit League Tournament Odds: Oral Roberts Favored To Complete Perfect League Season

2023 Summit League Tournament – The Summit
When: March 3-7, 2023
Where: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Classification: Division I

For 2023 the Summit League Tournament was expanded an extra day and includes all 10 teams. The opening day Friday features No. 8 Denver vs. No. 9 North Dakota and No. 7 Kansas City against No. 10 Omaha. The winner of the former game will face Oral Roberts on Saturday.

Abmas was named Summit League Player of the Year for the second time in his career. He led the Summit in scoring during league play at 23.5 ppg and also hit a league-best 68 three-pointers. Abmas also landed on the All-Summit League first team for a third straight year.

He has scored 2,487 career points which puts him 4th all-time in the ORU record book. He is the eighth player to record 2,000-plus points in ORU history. He’s recorded 408 three-pointers made making him second all-time in ORU history in that category. He is No. 1 all-time in the Summit League in three-pointers made.

Connor Vanover, a 7-foot-5 transfer from Arkansas, was named the Summit League Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Vanover averaged 12.2 ppg against League foes and ranked third in rebounding with a 7.1 clip. He also led all league players with 56 total blocks, which was good for a 3.1 bpg clip. Paul Mills earned his first Summit League Coach of the Year honor after guiding ORU to just the second perfect season by a Summit League squad in 41 years of conference play.

ORU closed the season on a national-best 14-game winning streak – it did lose a non-conference game at New Mexico on Jan. 9 in the midst of usual conference action. The team’s 27 overall wins ties for the most at the school since 2011-12. Oral Roberts last won this tournament in 2021.

The defending Summit League Tournament champion is South Dakota State, which went unbeaten in league play last year and finished second this season at 13-5. It is +400 to repeat. Sophomore Zeke Mayo was named first-team All-Summit League and freshman William Kyle III made The Summit League’s All-Newcomer Team.

Mayo led the Jackrabbits in scoring (18.3), rebounding (6.2), assists (3.4) and steals (1.0) over the course of 30 games. Mayo registered four double-doubles which featured two 13-rebound efforts. Mayo scored over 20 points in half of SDSU’s league games, which included two 30-point efforts and a 41-point performance against North Dakota State on Feb. 4. His 91.8% free throw percentage, which is fourth best in Division I men’s basketball this year, would rank as the third highest mark ever at SDSU. His 35.6 minutes played per game ranks sixth all-time at SDSU, his 5.9 defensive rebounds per appearance currently rank eighth and his 81 3-pointers are the ninth most ever in a season by a Jackrabbit.

SDSU was 0-2 vs. Oral Roberts this year but only lost by four points at home to the Governors in the regular-season finale on Feb. 25. SDSU is 6-1 all-time as the second seeded team. The Jackrabbits earned titles with three game runs through the championship in 2012 and 2016. SDSU fell in its 2020 opener to No. 7 Purdue Fort Wayne, 77-74.

North Dakota State is the third seed and Saint Thomas the fourth and both are +800. After dropping their first two conference games, the Bison went 11-5 the rest of the way, which included wins in five of their last six games. The Tommies are led by freshman Andrew Rohde, the Summit League Freshman of the Year and first-team all-conference selection.

Rohde’s 16.7 points this season ranks third highest among Division I freshmen and the best scoring average for any St. Thomas player the last 17 seasons. He’s also just 16 points shy of becoming the first Tommies freshman to reach 500 points in a season.

This is the first time in the Summit League Tournament for fairly new member Saint Thomas. Even if it wins the event, it can’t the former Division III program is not eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament until 2025-26 due to transition rules.

Expert Prediction : South Dakota State upset Oral Roberts in final