Ode to the Summit League
By Will Gray (Follow him on twitter @Fullmarx12)
Handicapping, they say, is about numbers where spotting minor inefficiencies in a generally efficient market yields long term success. To that end, many handicappers explain that they prefer college basketball to its autumnal counterpart – thinking it is easier for books to set lines for 120 football teams playing once per week than to set lines for 250 basketball teams playing 2-3 times per week. The bookmaker’s flaw, after all, is that he is forced to take a position on every game whether he wants to or not.
Buried deep in America’s heartland lies a collection of schools that many would struggle to identify on a map, let alone a basketball court. The rosters lack household names, and the arenas are often sparsely populated – it’s tough to lure more than 2,000 into the Dakota Dome mid-winter unless the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State are coming to Vermillion to take on in-state rival South Dakota. Fans probably know the teams for their mascots if anything, many of which seem stolen from the set of Jurassic Park (looking at you IPFW Mastodons).
Far from the national radar, these ten programs battle with the kind of noble ambition Mark Emmert dreams about at night. And slowly but surely, I was lured in. I became drawn to the contrast in styles between high-flying South Dakota State and pedantic, methodical Western Illinois, and I watched with interest Reggie Hamilton’s dogged attempt to emulate Allen Iverson’s 2005 stat line on a nightly basis.
| School | ATS Record | O/U |
| Oral Roberts | 12-15 | 14-12 |
| South Dakota State | 15-5-1 | 8-12 |
| Oakland | 10-12 | 14-7 |
| North Dakota State | 13-9 | 9-12 |
| Western Illinois | 9-10 | 5-13 |
| IUPUI | 9-11 | 11-8 |
| UMKC | 11-10 | 12-8 |
| Southern Utah | 12-11 | 7-16 |
| IPFW | 9-11 | 8-11 |
| South Dakota | 9-11 | 11-8 |
(ATS Data courtesy of www.beyondthebets.com)
Overall this season, I have found the Summit to be one of the more entertaining yet predictable conferences out there – with Oakland a noted outlier, as I am increasingly convinced that Greg Kampe has a handful of reverse teasers in play each time the Grizz take the floor. On Bracket Buster Saturday, games played out mostly as expected: Oral Roberts and South Dakota State each notched solid wins at home (not too surprising since they are a combined 27-0 at home this season), while the rest of the conference largely struggled. With the regular season coming to a close this weekend, ORU and SDSU have distanced themselves as the class of the conference and the league’s auto bid will likely go to one of them when the Summit teams head to Sioux Falls for the conference tournament in two weeks.
| Team | RPI (as of 2/21) | KenPom (as of 2/20) | Notable Non-Conf Win (RPI) | Score |
| Oral Roberts | 45 | 88 | at Xavier (53) | 64-42 |
| South Dakota St | 61 | 56 | at Washington (52) | 92-73 |
| Oakland | 143 | 174 | vs Tennessee (110) | 89-81 |
| North Dakota St | 146 | 148 | at San Francisco (139) | 73-65 |
| Western Illinois | 207 | 213 | vs Eastern Illinois (281) | 64-48 |
| IUPUI | 238 | 202 | vs Valparaiso (91) | 97-88 |
| UMKC | 243 | 267 | vs Wofford (188) | 64-58 |
| Southern Utah | 251 | 246 | vs UC Davis (342) | 62-51 |
| IPFW | 282 | 278 | vs Valparaiso (91) | 85-76 |
| South Dakota | 285 | 285 | at Morehead St (179) | 57-56 |
More than anything, though, I have developed a passion for a style of basketball played largely for pride, in gyms I will never visit, between men who likely will not suit up beyond this level. So while Kentucky, Syracuse and others battle for position at the top of the college basketball mountain in the coming weeks, I will instead have my eyes on the Summit seeking value with the Golden Eagles and Jackrabbits in the postseason. For those scoring at home, that’s Oral Roberts and South Dakota State respectively.
| NON-CONFERENCE WINS VS RPI TOP 100 OPPONENTS | ||||
| Date | Team | Opponent | Opponent RPI | Score |
| 11.3 | ORU | vs Missouri St | 94 | 68-63 |
| 12.7 | IPFW | vs Valpo | 91 | 85-76 |
| 12.17 | Oakland | at Valpo | 91 | 82-80 |
| 12.18 | SDSU | at Washington | 52 | 92-73 |
| 12.18 | ORU | at Xavier | 53 | 64-42 |
| 12.23 | IUPUI | vs Valpo | 91 | 97-88 |
| 2.18 | SDSU | vs Buffalo | 82 | 86-65 |
| 2.18 | ORU | vs Akron | 63 | 67-61 |
