College Basketball Odds: No. 14 Gonzaga at Saint Mary's (Calif.)

Gonzaga has won nine straight WCC regular-season titles, and have already beaten good teams like Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Illinois. (AP Images)

Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s is sort of like Duke-North Carolina of the West Coast Conference as these two heated rivals are usually the class of the WCC -- but with Saint Mary’s always trying (and failing) to knock Gonzaga off the top rung. For Thursday night’s game (ESPN2), however, the host Gaels are 4-point favorites on Bodog’s college basketball odds.

While Saint Mary’s (15-2, stellar 12-2 ATS) has been able to beat Gonzaga in the past, the Bulldogs have still won nine straight WCC regular-season titles, the longest current streak in the nation. But the Gaels are one of the best mid-major programs, having won 68 games in the past two-plus seasons, more than schools like Texas, Connecticut, Michigan State and Kentucky. This season’s team is led by center Omar Samhan, who is averaging a double-double (a WCC-leading 20.8 points and 10.9 rebounds). And point guard Mickey McConnell has stepped in for departed star Patrick Mills and is averaging 12.9 points and 6.3 assists (among the national leaders). But the Gaels have yet to beat a true quality team.

The Bulldogs (12-3, 7-4-1 ATS), who are the poster boys for mid-major success, have already beaten three likely NCAA Tournament teams this year in Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Illinois, and they barely lost at Top 10 team Michigan State. Gonzaga is led by guard Matt Bouldin (team-leading 15.4 points and 4.4 assists per game). And Elias Harris, from Germany, is one of the best freshmen in the nation, averaging 14.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg.
Both teams are among the nation’s top 25 in shooting percentage and Top 40 in scoring, so the opening total of 153.5 on Bodog’s college basketball odds is one of the highest of the day.

Saint Mary’s would get a huge boost to its NCAA Tournament resume with a win tonight, and it has beaten Gonzaga three of the past five meetings at home. But the Bulldogs have won 17 straight games (and 24 of 25) against WCC opponents, including 3-0 against the Gaels last season.

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