UAB Blazers Continue Strong NCAA Betting Trend

The Big Sky Conference is a combined 69-46 to the ’over’ this season.

Banking and coal mining rank at the top of Birmingham's commerce, but the past couple of months have seen a new revenue stream emerge from Alabama's largest city.

The UAB Blazers top a rather substantial list of teams that have been trending to one side of the college basketball betting totals or the other at a 67 percent clip or better.  Alabama-Birmingham extended its 'under' record to an astonishing 14-1 earlier this week with a 61-60 win at Rice, one of just two road victories for the Blazers this season.

Several factors have been playing into UAB's penchant for playing games that fail to reach the total, starting with an offense that ranks near the bottom of the nation averaging less than 60 points per game.  Coupled with a defense that is surrendering just 62.6 PPG, 41st in the country, it's fairly easy to understand why points are at a premium in all Blazers contests.

It will be interesting in the coming few weeks to see how low oddsmakers are willing to set totals for UAB contests.  The next six opponents on the Blazers schedule are each either level or showing slight leans to the 'under' to this point in the season, combining for a 38-33 record below totals.

The Virginia Cavaliers lead all schools from Big 6 conferences on the 'under' side of the ledger with an 11-1 mark that direction.  Virginia's lone 'over' was way back on Nov. 29 in a meeting with Michigan, and anyone who watched the Cavs take on Duke recently knows full well just how good Tony Bennett's troops are on the defensive end of the court.

They'll be facing two more squads with notable leans to the 'under' in the next week when the Cavaliers host Virginia Tech (9-5 'under') and Boston College (9-3 'under').

Bettors who have been following the Kentucky Wildcats this season have lost a bundle betting them against the spread.  Those on the 'under' in Kentucky games have been raking it in, however, with the Wildcats 12-5 'under' so far.

This weekend finds a collision between 'under' crews on the Ivy League slate.  Harvard, the class of the conference, is 9-3 to the low side of totals and will meet Dartmouth (6-0 'under') on Saturday.

Four more gangs that bear watching by 'under' bettors are Tulane (9-2 'under), Texas A&M (8-2), Gonzaga (12-3) and Notre Dame (10-3).

If it's points you like, then you might want to follow the action in the Big Sky Conference.  The league is 69-46 'over' as a group, with just one of the nine teams sporting a small lean to the 'under' (Northern Arizona 7-6).  Leading the way are the Montana State Bobcats who have fashioned a very profitable 10-2 'over' record.

A couple of Atlantic 10 schools are also finding friends among 'over' lovers with Charlotte 9-2 to the high side and Temple at 12-4. The 49ers and Owls will clash next week (Jan. 25) at Charlotte's Halton Arena.

Davidson is running away from the rest of the Southern Conference, and the Wildcats are also trending heavy to the 'over' at 12-3.  Bob McKillop's crew ranks 15th in the nation scoring 80 per game, and more than 18 of those points are coming at the charity stripe where the Wildcats are second in the country with an 80.1 percent success rate.

Billy Donovan's lads down in Gainesville are the best of the Big 6 conference schools at pushing final scores above the number.  Florida is 10-3 'over,' and was the opponent in the only UAB contest to jump the number this season.

Four more Big 6 squads to keep an eye on are North Carolina State (10-5 'over'), Oregon State (11-4), Villanova (11-4) and Indiana (10-4).