Horizon League Tournament Preview & Betting Guide: Can Favorites Youngstown State Make Its 1st-Ever NCAA Tournament?

We head to the midwest as the Horizon League looks to crown its champion with 11 teams ready to duke it out for their chance to dance at the NCAA Tournametn.  To prepare you for the action, we discuss the favorite, a dark horse, and the best bet that we think could go dancing on the league’s behalf.

Horizon League Tournament Dates & Sites

Dates: February 28th, March 2nd, 6th, & 7th

Location: First Round & Quarterfinals: Campus Sites

Semifinals & Championship: Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, IN

Championship Game Details: Tuesday, March 7th, 7:00 p.m. – ESPN/ESPN2

Horizon League Tournament Winner Odds

Favorite: Youngstown State +165

Youngstown State has torched defenses all season with gaudy offensive outputs throughout conference play. The Penguins have scored at least 80 points in 11 of 20 league games this season and have stellar offensive metrics, leading the league in efficiency, effective field goal percentage, and turnover rate.

They are oozing experience, with an average of over three years of college training per player on the roster. Dwayne Cohill leads the charge as the league’s shoo-in to win Horizon Player of the Year, while four stud transfers in Malek Green, Brandon Rush, Adrian Nelson, and Bryce McBride fill out the starting lineup. This team’s talent goes well beyond the Horizon League level, making them difficult to match up against for the opposition.

Dark Horse: Wright State +500

After an NCAA Tournament a season ago, Wright State is back in the mix within the Horizon. The wins and losses didn’t quite favor the Raiders this season, leaving them at 10-10 in conference play with the seventh seed and a date with Green Bay in the first round rather than a bye.

Trey Calvin headlines the show in Dayton as the team’s primary scorer and facilitator, boasting with experience after helping the Raiders to the Big Dance in 2022. He’s shown he can turn it up against the best the league has to offer after pouring in 44 points against favorites Youngstown State just earlier this month. With head coach Scott Nagy, the Raiders have the coaching to go with the experience of a postseason squad that you should feel comfortable backing.

Best Bet: Youngstown State +165

The qwerk with the Horizon League Tournament that goes unnoticed when looking at the odds is that the matchups are shuffled based on seeding each round. If they are in the tournament, the Penguins will face the worst team remaining up to the championship. That’s a monumental advantage if any upsets occur throughout the week. It’s a shorter number, but this team has the talent and offensive firepower to continue their league dominance. This is the team to back.

All NCAA predictions and picks are courtesy of SportsGrid.