Generally speaking, if you look at the college landscape, there are two teams that are basically going to win the national championship: Duke and Kentucky. Gonzaga comes way down the line, posting the 13th best odds to win the national title at 65:1 odds.
Of course, that isn’t a fools bet. The fools bet would be placing 10 bucks on Duke to win the whole thing and winning a grand total of approximately four dollars. Place that 10 dollars on the Zags, and you have a cool and cold night of healthy gambling in your pockets to the tune of $650.
Of course, placing bets at the beginning of any season, for any major sport, is just a total crapshoot—and college basketball is absolutely no different, considering how wild March Madness can actually get.
But the Zags have a bit of Final Four chatter that is echoing around the national consciousness. This would hardly be the first time that has happened, so it is starting to get a bit tiring to hear until the Zags actually reach the Final Four. But this is a very talented team, perhaps one of the more athletic teams in quite sometime.
It is also one of the more balanced Gonzaga squads we’ve seen in a couple of years. After being so reliant on the offense of Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis last season, the Zags should basically be starting five players who will have no issues scoring buckets in droves. Combine that with the fact that Przemek Karnowkski is returning to give the Zags the sorely-missed inside defensive presence, and you have the makings of a team that can make a deep run.
Deep enough of a run to turn that cash into gold? Who knows. That is why gambling is such a thrill.