The San Diego Toreros finished the 2004-05 season with a record of 16-13 straight up, including a West Coast Conference record of 7-7, which was good for a third place tie in the league.
Where the Toreros really shined, however, was against the college basketball gambling lines as they got the cash in seventeen out of twenty-six games against the spread. Best of all the Toreros were a consistent board play for nearly all season, with their worst stretch being right at the start of the campaign, when they went 2-3 against the spread.
Challenge to maintain
One thing that is very consistent about gamblers is their love of teams that get the cash and San Diego was well known and respected by most members of the college basketball gambling community by the end of 2004-05 as a team that brought home the bacon. The Toreros would be under a serious challenge to maintain that pace, however, as it is rare for any team, be it “big time” or mid-major, to maintain such a successful rate of payoffs against the board.
Money Machine
San Diego opened the season with an unlined 90-81 home win over Campbell. That was then followed by a 65-67 loss/payoff at Santa Barbara as 9.5-point dogs. After a 68-79 loss at San Jose State as 1-point dogs, the Toreros quickly got back into the black with an 82-65 win at UC Riverside as 3.5-point chalks for a third payoff in four games to open the season against the board.
San Diego was proving to be a college basketball gambling money machine, in fact, as the payoffs resumed with an 80-73 win at Furman as 6-point dogs, which was then followed by a 94-67 home win over UC Riverside as 15-point chalks. The Toreros then took a break from the board and scored a 104-57 home win over Point Loma.
Back on the board in a neutral court game against Fresno State, the Toreros scored a 72-61 win/cover as 2.5-point chalks. San Diego then suffered a surprising home loss to Texas Arlington 91-94 in an unlined overtime affair but then got right back on track with a 90-57 home win over Loyola-Chicago as 3.5-point chalks. That was then followed by a 63-56 home win over New Mexico as 5.5-point chalks. The Toreros then ended their fantastic run against the board with a 97-78 win at Eastern Washington as 1-point chalks to open the campaign with a 9-1 mark against the spread, which tacked on to their 2004-05 mark made them 26-10 against the spread for a pace that simply couldn’t be sustained for much longer.
Market correction
The San Diego Toreros would never be mistaken for a popular or well known college basketball program like Duke or North Carolina, but they were becoming very well known amongst gamblers, who never fail to pick up the scent of a winner. This notoriety, however, would cause the Toreros to go through a college basketball gambling market correction beginning with an 84-86 loss at Loyola Marymount as 3-point overlays. That was then followed by a 54-55 loss at Pepperdine as 2.5-point chalks. Next came a 75-69 home win over Santa Clara that the Toreros failed to cover as 7-point overlays, a clear demonstration that their value was fading. After a 63-64 loss/cover at home to Gonzaga as 5-point dogs, the Toreros went back to red in the form of a 78-68 home win over Portland that they failed to cover as 11.5-point overlays.
Brief resurgence
San Diego was able to apply the breaks to the losing streak however, starting with an 86-78 win at St. Mary’s as 4-point dogs. That was then followed by an 81-66 win at Santa Clara as 3-point chalks and then an 84-71 home win over Pepperdine as 11-point chalks for brief resurgence of three straight payoffs.
Free fall
From there, however, San Diego suffered a horrific free fall to end the regular season as they went 1-5 SU and 0-6 ATS. The Toreros rebounded, however, in the WCC tourney as they went 2-1 SU and 3-0 ATS, as they were eliminated by Gonzaga 92-96 in OT as 13-point dogs.