Duke has company on court

If Gordon Hayward’s half-court heave had dropped in and stunned Duke, it would have been one of the greatest moments in sports history. But the ball hit backboard and rim, and the Blue Devils won again.

Hayward just missed a Hollywood ending. Seven months later, Butler’s 61-59 loss in the NCAA championship game is a memory, and Hayward is mopping up at the end of the Utah Jazz bench.

College basketball is back, and Duke is shooting for back-to-back titles, unfortunately. The Blue Devils’ star, Kyle Singler, turned down the NBA, and coach Mike Krzyzewski is flashing that annoying grin.

At Las Vegas sports books, Duke is the favorite at about 4-1 odds to win the national title. The good news comes courtesy of Kenny White, a former Las Vegas Sports Consultants oddsmaker.

“It’s wide open. I have about 10 teams that I think could win it,” said White, who spends months crunching numbers and analyzing rosters.

The Blue Devils, who lost sharpshooter Jon Scheyer and tough 7-foot center Brian Zoubek, might be a little weaker. But they still shape up as the strongest of the 335 Division I teams, and ESPN will televise almost every game they play, even the meaningless ones.

So who are the other contenders? Start with Michigan State and Pittsburgh.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo got the brush-off from LeBron James and returned to the Big Ten to continue teaching defense and rebounding. Izzo can ride seniors Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers and junior Draymond Green to the Final Four, where Michigan State has been six times in the past 12 years.

Pittsburgh appears to be the best the Big East has to offer. Panthers coach Jamie Dixon has experienced leaders in Ashton Gibbs, Gilbert Brown and Brad Wanamaker. Great guards win games in March. Pittsburgh has what it takes to cash tickets at about 15-1 odds.

“Pitt is going to play four guards and one big guy, and they’re going to play great defense,” said White, who is just as high on Ohio State and Big 12 powers Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor.

The Bears have a problem, though, because star guard LaceDarius Dunn was suspended after being arrested on felony charges of punching his girlfriend and breaking her jaw. But it comes as little surprise that Baylor recently cleared Dunn to return to practice.

“If Dunn plays, Baylor might be the best team in the country,” said White, who provides basketball and football ratings at MVPElite.com.

The Buckeyes boast a future star in 6-foot-9-inch, 270-pound freshman Jared Sullinger, who reportedly scored 40-plus points in a 65-minute closed scrimmage against Baylor.

Kansas State coach Frank Martin, who looks like an Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight brawler, has a team with a large frontline and a talented guard in Jacob Pullen.

The NCAA has yet to rule on the amateur status of freshman Josh Selby at Kansas. If he becomes eligible, the Jayhawks should be better than Baylor and Kansas State.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, no stranger to NCAA investigators, was dealt a setback Thursday when 6-11 freshman Enes Kanter was ruled ineligible.

Purdue was considered a co-favorite with Duke before Boilermakers star Robbie Hummel was lost to another season-ending knee injury.

White has high ratings for Memphis and Syracuse and sees Louisville and UCLA headed for turnaround seasons.

The Mountain West Conference looks to be a three-team race among San Diego State, Brigham Young and UNLV. But don’t sleep on New Mexico coach Steve Alford, who is stockpiling talent.

“Steve Fisher has his best team at San Diego State. The Mountain West is loaded,” White said. “It should get four in the NCAA Tournament again.”

The NFL gets the hype, but no sport offers college basketball’s betting opportunities. Fifty-five games are on the board today, and it’s just the start of the party.

■ CLOSING NUMBERS — After hovering around .500 for two months of the college football season, I coughed up a 1-7 record last week. How humiliating. The worst part? I spent hours handicapping those games.

These plays were made in 15 minutes. Here are seven for Saturday (home team in CAPS):

OKLAHOMA (-15) over Texas Tech; BAYLOR (+3) over Texas A&M; FLORIDA (-6½) over South Carolina; Utah (-5½) over NOTRE DAME; Georgia (+8) over AUBURN; Stanford (-5) over ARIZONA STATE; OHIO STATE (-17½) over Penn State.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the “Las Vegas Sportsline” weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.