THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Just when you think you have college basketball figured out ...

Go ahead. 

Take a shot. 

See if you can make money by betting on college basketball. 

Spoiler: You can’t, unless you hook up with a coach or athletic director who’s as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, and needs somebody to be the front man so he can stay out of the limelight. 

There have been schemes involving players willing to “shave” points, and a few got away with it — because the key was having actual players involved. 

I’m not talking about all-out crime here. 

This is legal betting, and you’re in the game as somebody who’s followed hoops forever, and feels pretty good about getting any tip that might be out there. 

If you happen to jump on some knowledge that the rest of the world doesn’t know, it likely would come from a character with a shoe company — someone like that. 

Coaches, agents, players’ families and so forth, you can almost certainly forget it, because the closer sources get to the sport itself, the brighter the spotlight from any agency you can imagine. 

So, why are we even discussing this subject today? 

Well, seeing Gonzaga hang a 101-63 beating on a Baylor bunch that’s supposed to be in the upper tier of the Big 12 was a shock. 

A WEEK later, those same Zags had to fight for their lives against an Arizona State team that might as well have met at the bus station. 

A 22-point favorite enjoying the comfort of home (where they’ve won every season opener since 1988) Gonzaga survived 88-80 — but was in deep, deep jeopardy until the final 30 seconds. 

The point spreads and results from those two Zags outings would make you think that a sidewalk genius like Benny the Butcher was so sure of those results that he was betting Grandma’s life savings. 

To be honest, it LOOKED that way. 

Arizona State, a team entirely put together from scratch by crafty Bobby Hurley, barely got away with winning its own opener against national powerhouse Idaho State. 

Are we being serious here? 

So, the Sun Devils embarrassed themselves against Idaho State, then improved (slightly) in a win over Santa Clara before turning up at the Kennel for what was surely going to be a whuppin’. 

Or not. 

ASU never looked like an underdog in Sunday’s thriller, as a few thousand terrified Gonzaga fans can tell you. 

They kept waiting for the usual 20-2 “Kennel explosion,” but it never happened. 

In fact, you can look at this game as a plus-performance by the Zags. 

Having battered Baylor (which turned around to beat Arkansas), Gonzaga should have been relaxed and laying the wood to the Devils. 

When it didn’t happen and ASU clearly wouldn’t go away, the Zags earned some major gut-check points. 

WHAT I’M saying here should be obvious. 

How are you going to jump on a team (Zags, Kansas, anybody) when there’s unbelievable talent everywhere? 

And hidden, more often than not.

With wide-open transfer rules and NIL money sloshing around, I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that Arizona State is loaded — and it simply took the Devils a week to learn about playing together. 

We’ve reached the point where anyone can win the Maui Classic or any other big-boy tournament. 

Everyone will have a loss or two on their resumes until that first week of April — when UConn wins its third straight NCAA title. 

In the meantime, though, don’t be stunned by major upsets. 

They’re going to be part of the landscape these days. 

There’s talent everywhere, and it’s spread out from Creighton to Auburn. 

And some of it remains in Spokane. 

Still. 

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”