Loyola (MD) vs. Colgate Odds & Pick: How to Bet the Patriot League Tournament Championship (Sunday, March 14)

Patriot League Championship

Loyola (MD) vs. Colgate Odds

Ever since he hung a 30-burger on Tennessee in the opening round of the 2019 tournament, I’ve been all in on the man all in on his mission, Jordan Burns. I repeat, this is NOT a fade of Mr. Burns and his red hot Raiders, fresh off a 30-point drubbing of Bucknell in the semis.

(Yes, I’m the one who led you astray in that one.)

But now, there’s a new apple of my eye in the Patriot League: Santi Aldama. Aldama is the ringleader of the Spanish Conquistadores (nickname pending), along with fellow Spaniard frontline mates Golden Dike and Alonso Faure. Dike and Faure are both skilled bigs, cut from the classic European big man cloth, but Aldama is an outlier of the nth degree. A butter-smooth 6-foot-11 forward who can lead the break, stroke it from deep and drop dimes on the button should not be playing in the Patriot. But, by way of head coach Tavaris Hardy’s Spanish connection, Aldama and his fellow Spaniards are wreaking havoc on the poor Patriot, now one win away from an NCAA Tournament appearance.

In that vein, I would cautiously endorse a small moneyline taste, but I’m not here to give out Hail Marys. The current price of +10 is what has my attention. Colgate’s propensity to blow out teams is well documented — look no further than Wednesday against Bucknell — but the Greyhounds’ current ‘run’ has been done at a walker’s pace. Loyola’s first two tournament wins over Navy and Army clocked in at 62 and 64 possessions, the two slowest games of the season.

The Navy crawl was partially expected, but keeping the transition-based Black Knights to 64 possessions tells me there’s a deliberate initiative to play in the half-court at all cost. Hardy swapped in Kenneth Jones for Isaiah Hart at the starting point guard spot, opting to pull Hart’s feast-or-famine decision-making in favor of a more careful ‘game manager’ who just so happens to be a better shooter as well.

Speaking of shooting, Cam Spencer’s return to the ring adds another marksman to the Greyhound perimeter offense. You can bet on Matt Langel devising double teams and other schematic tweaks to slow down Aldama, so Jones' and Spencer’s ability to cash in on diverted defensive attention will be the difference.

With Aldama surging and Spencer healing, Loyola’s stock is an empathic ‘buy’ at the moment. I’ll echo what Hardy said on a radio show this week: “No offense to anyone else, we’re not the ninth seed.”

Pick: Loyola (MD) +10 or better