College Basketball Odds, Picks, Futures: 2023-24 Horizon League Betting Preview

The Horizon League provided plenty of excitement at the top of the standings in 2022-23, as four teams finished with conference records of 14-6 or better.

Youngstown State emerged from the pack as the regular-season champion, but the Penguins fell short in the Horizon tournament semifinals to eventual champion Northern Kentucky.

A pair of squads closed with dreadful 2-18 conference records (IUPUI and Green Bay), while the nation’s leading scorer emerged from the Horizon — Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis averaged 28.2 points per game. Davis graduated, leaving a major hole offensively for the Titans, who closed 9-11 in the league.

Horizon League NCAAB Regular Season Title Odds

League Contenders

The Vikings were one of the three squads at 14-6 that finished right behind Youngstown State, which was impressive for first-year head coach Daniyal Robinson.

Cleveland State lost to Northern Kentucky by two points in the Horizon Championship and lost in overtime in the opening round of the CBI to Eastern Kentucky.

Senior Tristan Enaruna will once again be the focal point of the Vikings’ offensive attack after posting 15.6 points per game and pulling down nearly seven rebounds a contest.

Cleveland State cashed the Over in 12 of its final 15 games, but the Vikings slumped to a 2-7 ATS record in their last nine contests as a favorite.

The Panthers picked up 22 victories last season after winning 20 combined games the previous two seasons. Granted, Milwaukee beat three non-Division I teams and notched three more wins against IUPUI and Green Bay, who were rated as bottom-five teams in the country, according to KenPom.

On the positive side, the Panthers return four starters, including BJ Freeman, who averaged a team-high 18.2 points per game.

Milwaukee beat Cleveland State twice, knocked off Youngstown State by 13 and topped Northern Kentucky twice. However, the Panthers couldn’t beat Cleveland State a third time, losing to the Vikings in the Horizon quarterfinals.

Milwaukee went through a topsy-turvy season from an ATS perspective (14-12-1), but like Cleveland State, the Panthers went on a huge Over run by going 12-4 in the final 16 games of the season.

For the second time since 2019, the Norse represented the Horizon League in the NCAA tournament after defeating Youngstown State and Cleveland State on consecutive days for the conference title.

Although Northern Kentucky fell short against Houston in the first round of the Big Dance, the Norse closed with a strong 8-1 ATS record, including a 5-1 ATS mark as a favorite.

NKU is led by senior guard Marques Warrick (18.8 PPG) and junior Sam Vinson, who led the Horizon in steals.

The 8-1 ATS run at the end of the season somewhat made up for a 3-12 ATS start to the season for the Norse, who had a signature non-conference win against regional rival Cincinnati. NKU lost three home games last season, with two of those coming by one point apiece against Oakland and Milwaukee.

The Penguins will somewhat be starting from scratch this season after four starters from last season’s 24-win squad departed.

After beginning the season with a 7-4 record, YSU won 16 of its next 20 games to claim the top seed in the Horizon tournament.

Youngstown State actually hosted Oklahoma State in the NIT, but lost to the Cowboys, 69-64, marking consecutive postseason appearances for the Penguins.

Before closing as a home underdog against Oklahoma State, Youngstown State was listed in the favorite role in 23 consecutive games (12-11 ATS).

Third-team All-Horizon league guard Brandon Rush (13.9 PPG) is the lone returning starter in 2023-24 for the Penguins.

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Middle of the Pack

Two seasons ago, the Raiders sat atop the Horizon League before losing to Arizona in the NCAA tournament.

Last season, Wright State took a step back with a 10-10 league record, which included an 0-3 start in Horizon play.

Guard Trey Calvin (20.3 PPG) returns for the Raiders, along with Horizon League Freshman of the Year Brandon Noel (13.0 PPG).

Wright State didn’t play the strongest schedule (312th, according to KenPom), and its best non-conference win came against Abilene Christian. The Raiders knocked off Louisville in November as a road underdog, but the Cardinals finished 4-28.

The first three games of this season will be an interesting test for Wright State, as it travels to Colorado State, hosts Toledo and then visits Indiana in less than a week.

The Golden Grizzlies got off to a 2-11 start last season, but actually closed on a high note, winning 11 of 18 games before getting bounced by Northern Kentucky in the Horizon tournament.

Oakland went on a 7-1 run in league play from late December through most of January, which included road underdog wins at Wright State, Northern Kentucky and Detroit Mercy.

Trey Townsend (16.5 PPG) finished second-team All-Horizon as the Golden Grizzlies finished 5-1 in six league games when he scored 20 points or more.

Keep an eye out for Oakland as potential fade material in non-conference play, as it covered only one game in nine tries last season. The Golden Grizzlies travel to Ohio State, Illinois, Xavier, Michigan State and Dayton in the first two months, so laying points with those teams may not be a stretch.

The Colonials doubled their win total from 2021-22 by picking up 16 victories last season. They also won 10 league games.

RMU started 3-6 in Horizon play, but won seven of its final 11 regular season games, capped off by another win over IUPUI in the opening round of the league tournament.

Robert Morris covered 17 games last season, which was third among Horizon teams (Youngstown State and IUPUI each cashed 18 times). The Colonials put together an 8-4 ATS mark as an underdog of five or more points, but won only two of those games outright.

RMU’s top two scorers from last season (Enoch Cheeks — 16.0 PPG and Kahliel Spear — 15.7 PPG) are gone, so it will be interesting to see who fills that void.

End of the Horizon

The Mastodons (which are ancient elephants) took a slight step back from 2021-22 to finish 17-15 last season. Purdue Fort Wayne lost five of its final seven regular season contests before getting ousted immediately in the Horizon tournament by Detroit Mercy.

It will be a rebuilding season in Fort Wayne, as the Mastodons don’t have one starter returning from last season’s squad.

The Mastodons closed last season at 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games, while putting together a 1-8 ATS mark as a favorite in Horizon League play.

Amazingly, IUPUI improved its win total this past season in spite of finishing 5-27, as the Jaguars went 3-26 the season prior.

IUPUI returns four starters from the 2022-23 squad, and closed last season covering 17 of its final 21 games.

16 of those ATS wins came as a double-digit underdog, but IUPUI lost seven of those games as a heavy ‘dog by seven points or less. This team hung around.

The Jaguars will depend on guards Jlynn Counter (14.5 PPG), Vincent Brady II (10.9 PPG) and Bryce Monroe (12.0 PPG), who was limited to four games last season before getting injured.

Losing your top scorer is always a tough pill to swallow, but what about losing the nation’s top scorer?

That’s the case in the Motor City for the Titans, as Antoine Davis (son of head coach Mike Davis) graduated after leading the country in scoring at 28.2 points per game.

Detroit Mercy finished below .500 for the second straight season (14-19), as the Titans never won more than three straight games.

The Titans started Horizon play at 2-1 before dropping four in a row, but also managed a 5-1 run in February to reach 9-9 in the league. Detroit Mercy lost its final two regular season games before losing to Youngstown State in the quarterfinals of the Horizon tournament.

So, how do the Titans fill the shoes left void by Davis? Actually, all five starters from last season are gone, which makes things a little dicey for the elder Davis, who led Indiana to the National Championship game in 2002.

Detroit will turn to plenty of transfers to right the ship, but it will be a tough start, as it hits the road to face Toledo, Cincinnati, Ole Miss and Ohio in its first four games of the season.

If you thought IUPUI posted a poor record in 2022-23, check out the Phoenix of Green Bay, who went 3-29. Green Bay and LIU were tied for the fewest wins among the 363 teams in Division I; the Phoenix actually won two Horizon games.

Unlike IUPUI, Green Bay wasn’t a solid underdog to back in spite of receiving a lot of points every game. The Phoenix finished 9-22-1 ATS, capped off by a 3-11-1 ATS mark to close the season.

The sun will come out tomorrow for Green Bay, who hired Wyoming assistant Sundance Wicks to run the show. Wicks loses four starters from last season’s squad, but he brings in guard Noah Reynolds (14.5 PPG), who transferred from Wyoming.