NCAA Basketball: 2021 Diamond Head Classic preview and predictions

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - DECEMBER 8: Trevin Knell #21 of the BYU Cougars shoots a three-pointer over RJ Eytle-Rock #5 of the Utah State Aggies during the first half December 8, 2021 at the J. Willard Marriott Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /

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Wyoming Cowboys mascot Pistol Pete NCAA Basketball (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images) /

Favorite

BYU is understandably the betting favorite to win the Diamond Head Classic at -125. The Cougars were ranked for three weeks in the AP Top 25 after a win over San Diego State, a 32-point blowout of Oregon, and a quality road win over Utah. They dropped out after a disappointing loss to Utah Valley but were able to bounce back with two nice wins at Missouri State and over Utah State before losing to Creighton.

BYU has not shown much consistency, but their ceiling is quite high as shown by multiple quality wins.

Sleeper

Outside of BYU, this tournament is full of sleepers, but Wyoming stands out as the most interesting of them. The Cowboys are 9-1 and have an incredibly talented duo in Graham Ike (19.6 PPG, 8.5 RPG) and Hunter Maldonado (16.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.2 APG). They are an elite offensive team whose only loss came to No. 8 Arizona in Tucson.

Wyoming has a chance to prove themselves a legitimate threat to Colorado State, Utah State, and San Diego State at the top of the Mountain West if they can string together a couple of nice wins in Honolulu this week.

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