Gonzaga, then who knows in college basketball title race

Predicting the outcome of March Madness can be an exercise in futility, but if you have to start somewhere, start with Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs, who nearly finished a perfect season in April, are the 6-1 favorites at the Westgate SuperBook for this college basketball season, which starts Tuesday.

After that, who knows?

“If I sat here this time last year and said, ‘Yeah, I really like UCLA to win it all,’ you’d laugh me out of the room,” Westgate vice president of risk Ed Salmons said.

The Bruins won a First Four game against Michigan State, then charged all the way to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed, finally falling to Gonzaga on a buzzer-beater in overtime.

Now bettors can’t get enough of UCLA for this season, and Salmons said that’s fine with him.

“Right now we’re a six-figure loser on UCLA, and I wanted people to bet them, just because I don’t think there’s value in them,” he said.

The Bruins are the co-third choice with Kansas at 12-1 at the Westgate, right behind another team supported by public perception in Texas, Salmons said. The Longhorns are 10-1 after luring coach Chris Beard from Texas Tech.

“People have bet Texas to death,” said Salmons, who called Beard a “top-five coach in the whole country, maybe top-one.”

Beard was briefly the coach at UNLV in 2016, though he left for Texas Tech before coaching a game.

Salmons said he likes Villanova (16-1) and Kentucky (18-1), but bettors have been reluctant to back those high-profile programs so far.

Defending national champion Baylor is 25-1 after taking heavy losses from the team that whipped Gonzaga 86-70 for the title.

Bruce Marshall of GoldSheet.com is targeting some longer shots.

Memphis (26-1 at Circa Sports) has two of the top freshmen in Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren.

“We’re going to find out once and for all if Penny Hardaway can really coach,” Marshall said via email.

Arkansas (40-1 at Circa) and Auburn (65-1 at Circa) are building behind a bunch of impressive transfers, Marshall said.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman “gets to prove again why he is the master at creating instant chemistry among a new cast,” Marshall said.

Marshall also likes St. Bonaventure (widely available at 200-1), which returns most of a team that secured a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season.

San Diego State has the lowest odds among Mountain West teams at 100-1 at the Westgate. UNLV is 1,000-1, and UNR is 2,000-1.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.