MVC tournament odds preview: Creighton favorite over Wichita State

Creighton, led by AP Player of the Year candidate Doug McDermott, opened as favorites to win the MVC today, as more conference tournament betting action gets underway.

Missouri Valley Conference tournament action opens in St. Louis Thursday as eighth-seeded Bradley battles ninth-seeded Drake, and seventh-seeded Missouri State takes on 10th-seeded Southern Illinois.

“Arch Madness” continues Friday with four games. Top-seeded (and defending tournament champion) Creighton plays the winner of the eight-vs.-nine game.

McDermott checked in Wednesday as the fourth betting pick in NCAA college basketball odds focused on Player of the Year honors, according to Bodog.eu.

Also Friday, fourth-seeded Evansville plays fifth-seeded Indiana State; then second-seeded Wichita State plays the winner of the seven-vs.-ten game; and finally third-seeded Northern Iowa takes on sixth-seeded Illinois State.

The MVC tournament semifinals will be played Saturday, and the championship game, with an automatic NCAA tournament bid on the line, is slated for Sunday (2 pm ET, CBS).

MVC odds (courtesy of Bovada.lv):

Creighton 1/1
Wichita State 2/1
Illinois State 7/1
Northern Iowa 9/1
Evansville 14/1
Indiana State 20/1
Drake 50/1
Southern Illinois 50/1
Bradley 100/1
Missouri State 250/1

Conference tournament play also continues Thursday in the Big South, Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley and the WCC.

Finally, in big games outside of conference tournaments settings Thursday, No. 19 Oregon, continuing its quest for a Pac-12 regular-season title, visits 19-9 Colorado (9 pm ET, ESPN2); No. 10 Michigan State, which has lost three games in a row, hosts No. 22 Wisconsin (9 pm ET, ESPN); and WAC champion Louisiana Tech, which has won 18 games in a row and yet somehow isn’t ranked, visits 19-10 New Mexico State (9 pm ET, ESPN3).

Get NCAA basketball odds on every game every day here at SBNation, a service provided by OddsShark.com