Kentucky’s expected coronation only increases madness

One dominant, undefeated team is a good thing for college basketball, even if John Calipari is coaching that team. This could be the most intriguing March in recent memory solely because of Kentucky.

At this point, only Ronda Rousey is crushing opponents more impressively, and Rousey is not going to be threatened anytime soon.

The top-ranked Wildcats (31-0) can be taken down, believe it or not, and I see two teams most capable of doing it.

In two days, when the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced, criticized, analyzed and then finally filled out, the public will get into the game. The conference tournaments are a highly entertaining warmup act.

“It starts to heat up Thursday to Saturday,” said Westgate Las Vegas sports book director Jay Kornegay, who attended the Mountain West tournament Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. “Right now, we’re on an upturn in terms of interest. This is a prelude to the madness, and fans start to get more interested in betting the games.

“Obviously, we know what happens next week. The pinnacle of the season is next week and the first four days.”

It feels bigger and better every year. Las Vegas is the place to be this week and next week if you bet college basketball. It’s not all about next week, either. Many of the fans — and some in the media — at the Thomas & Mack watching the Mountain West showed up with a betting ticket.

It’s the same deal at the MGM Grand Garden for the Pacific-12 Conference tournament, and it was the case at Orleans Arena when Gonzaga shot down Brigham Young in the West Coast Conference final Tuesday.

This is a part of the madness, too. These games can be just as crazy, with bettors living and dying on late 3-pointers, swearing about the officiating and sweating out free throws down the stretch.

There was no better example than the UNLV-San Diego State game. The Aztecs, who closed as 5½-point favorites, trailed by six at halftime before opening the second half with a 12-0 run. The game changed in the blink of an eye.

The two teams traded big shots until San Diego State took a seven-point lead with just less than two minutes to go. It was 67-61 after Winston Shepard hit a free throw with four seconds remaining.

Maybe the most dramatic shot of the game might have gone unnoticed by some who are naive to this. Jordan Cornish, the Rebels’ freshman guard, rose above two defenders and buried a 28-footer at the buzzer for the cover. UNLV lost the game, but its backers won the bet.

“That was one of the craziest point-spread finishes of the year,” said Bruce Marshall, a handicapper for The Gold Sheet who was sitting courtside.

In the previous game on the same floor, Wyoming, a 3½-point favorite, eliminated Utah State 67-65. The Aggies got the cover when Darius Perkins hit a 3 with four seconds left, and the Cowboys’ Charles Hankerson Jr. missed two free throws.

There are wild point-spread results this week, and there was another in the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Iowa State, a 1½- to 2-point favorite, closed with a 12-0 run to stun Texas 69-67 as Monte Morris sank the winning 18-foot jumper at the buzzer.

There are eye-opening upsets this week, but not many Thursday. In the Big Ten tournament in Chicago, Penn State, an 8½-point ’dog, knocked out Iowa 67-58 behind D.J. Newbill’s 18 points.

In the Pac-12, all four favorites covered as Arizona, Oregon, UCLA and Utah won easily.

Duke was another blowout winner, an 8½-point favorite dropping a 77-53 hammering on North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

Even those faraway tournaments seem to be right here in Las Vegas if you’re sitting in a sports book and sweating out the results.

My best bet today is Baylor as a 1-point underdog to Kansas. The Jayhawks are short-handed, and the Bears have a lot of long-armed, athletic big men.

The two teams I see most capable of taking down Kentucky? Duke and Wisconsin. Frank Kaminsky and the Badgers open tournament play in the Big Ten today as 14-point favorites over Michigan.

The Blue Devils are anchored by a freshman big man, Jahlil Okafor, and Quinn Cook leads a talented pack of guards. Mike Krzyzewski is a coach who knows something about knocking off undefeated teams.

Calipari is a rebel, the modern-day Jerry Tarkanian, who led a 34-0 UNLV team to the Final Four in 1991.

The Rebels were upset by Duke, and this feels like it could be deja vu.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.