NCAA Basketball Betting: Furman Listed as the SoCon Favorite

The 2023-2024 men's college basketball season is only days away, and FanDuel Sportsbook has college basketball conference betting odds available.

Here's how the odds shake out for the Southern Conference's regular season winner.

Furman Paladins (+195)

After winning the SoCon Tournament title last year, Furman pulled off a first-round upset in the NCAA Tournament, knocking out the four-seeded Virginia Cavaliers.

Do the Paladins have what it takes to come out on top of the SoCon again this season? The outlook is fairly sunny for this team.

Furman is returning 66.3% of their minutes from last season (second-most in conference). This includes Marcus Foster and JP Pegues -- two players who made this year's preseason All-Conference team.

Among all SoCon teams, Furman ranks first in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and second in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, per BartTorvik.

Their 15-3 record last season placed them atop the conference standings (tied with Samford), and they seem primed to follow up on this performance. Furman ranks first in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll and Media Poll.

UNC Greensboro Spartans (+280)

UNC Greensboro touts the next-shortest conference outright odds. Last year, they finished behind Furman and Samford.

The Spartans came in second place in the Preseason Coaches Poll and were one of two teams (besides Furman) to receive a first-place vote. However, they do rank fourth in the Media Poll, trailing behind Furman, Samford, and Western Carolina.

Though there is some discrepancy in their rankings coming into the season, UNC Greenboro's standing as the second most likely SoCon victor makes sense.

They have the highest projected effective experience in the conference, all while ranking first in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency and third in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency, per BartTorvik.

They are returning 51.1% of their minutes this season (fourth-most), including Mikeal Brown-Jones and Keyshaun Langley, each of whom was a preseason All-Conference selection.

BartTorvik has UNC Greensboro as the top-ranked SoCon team, so they are an interesting underdog choice if you are willing to fade Furman.

Samford Bulldogs (+340)

Samford is the third and final team to boast sub +1000 odds to win the Southern Conference. As mentioned, they tied with Furman at the top of the conference chain last season, which marked Samford's first SoCon regular season championship in the school's history.

They are returning 54.6% of their minutes this season and come in with the second-highest projected effective experience. Plus, they rank second in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and third in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, per BartTorvik.

Jermaine Marshall is the only Samford player who was selected to the preseason All-Conference team, but the Bulldogs have the second-most transfer points and projected effective talent (via BartTorvik), which is more than either Furman or UNC Greensboro.

Western Carolina Catamounts (+1000)

Western Carolina deserves a look.

They are returning 73.1% of their minutes (most) and are tied for second (with Samford) in the Preseason Media Poll. Beyond Furman, who received eight first-place votes in this poll, Western Carolina received the second-most, with four.

The Catamounts are the only team to have three players selected on the preseason All-Conference team -- Vonterius Woolbright, Russell Jones Jr., and Tre Jackson.

Woolbright was selected as the preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year, and the team has enough assets to be an intriguing value at +1000.

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