College Basketball Odds: Conference Tournaments Continue

Two more college basketball leagues get their conference tournaments started Saturday, while many others play out toward their conclusions.

Here's a sampling of what's happening Saturday in college hoops from a basketball betting perspective, with odds and trends courtesy of OddsShark.com.

The Colonial Athletic Association begins its tournament Saturday in Richmond with three quarterfinal games; they'll narrow the field down to two with a pair of semifinal games Sunday, and Monday night they'll play the conference championship game, awarding an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

On the CAA tournament betting board, top-seeded Northeastern is listed as a 2-1 favorite, followed by second-seeded Delaware at 11-5, fourth-seeded George Mason at 5-2, fifth-seeded Drexel at 4-1, third-seeded James Madison at 7-1, sixth-seeded William & Mary at 10-1 and seventh-seeded Hofstra at 35-1.

Due to some postseason banishments, only seven teams of 11 CAA teams will play in the conference tournament.

The Summit League tournament gets going Saturday in Sioux Falls with four quarterfinal games. Then Sunday they'll play two semifinal games. And the Summit League championship game, with an invitation to the Big Dance on the line, will be played Monday night (8 pm ET, ESPN).

Last year South Dakota State, as the two-seed, defeated fourth-seeded Western Illinois to win the Summit League tournament.

As for this year, third-seeded North Dakota State leads the betting on the Summit League championship board at odds of 5-4. Top-seeded SD State comes next at 7-5, followed by Western Illinois and Oakland at 4-1, IPFW and South Dakota at 35-1 and UM-KC and IUPUI at 75-1.

Also, Saturday conference tournament play continues at a dozen different sites across the fruited plains, and many major conferences wind down their regular seasons with key games.

Among them is a good rivalry game out of the Big East as No. 5 Georgetown hosts No. 17 Syracuse.

Also Saturday, No. 11 Florida visits Kentucky; No. 13 Oklahoma State hosts No. 9 Kansas State; No. 16 St. Louis hosts 21-7 LaSalle; and No. 15 Marquette visits 16-13 St. John's. At 20-9, Boise State— trying to snare an NCAA at-large bid—hosts 21-8 San Diego State; No. 8 Louisville hosts No. 24 Notre Dame; 22-8 Missouri visits 18-11 Tennessee; No. 18 Arizona hosts 20-10 Arizona State; 22-8 Southern Miss hosts 20-10 Central Florida; and No. 3 Duke pays a visit on 22-8 North Carolina.