College basketball best bets today

Two Elite Eight matchups are set and we’ll know the other two later tonight, as we have four games in the Sweet 16 to consider for Friday. Check out our March Madness Hub, which has all four game previews, plus early thoughts on Clemson vs. Alabama and Illinois vs. UConn in the Elite Eight.

Check the latest college basketball odds for legal U.S. sportsbooks across the country and our Vegas odds if you share a state with us here at VSiN. Also, give the college basketball betting splits a look for these or any other college basketball games today have your interest. Check out the Tracking Sheet for this season’s results and our college basketball home page for more CBB content.

 

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Here is one college basketball best bet for today.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish.

NC State Wolfpack vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (-7, 150.5)

7:09 p.m. ET

NC State has been one of March’s most outstanding stories, as the current seven-game winning streak for the Wolfpack is three more wins in a row than the team had at any other point this season. There’s something to be said about getting hot at the right time.

Unfortunately, I think the ride comes to an end tonight against Marquette. I don’t really love the idea of NC State playing at such a high level and then going back to Raleigh for a couple of days to decompress. To me, as tiring as it may be with seven games in 11 days, I think the adrenaline and the momentum to stay in rhythm are worth something. Now, the Wolfpack haven’t played in a few days and have been able to reflect on all they’ve accomplished, not to mention being treated like celebrities.

I also feel like they’re really stepping up in class here against Marquette. Texas Tech was a decent team from the best conference in the nation. Oakland was a great story and NC State needed OT to prevail there. Marquette is just a different beast. The pressure defense for Shaka Smart’s team is something NC State hasn’t really seen and nobody in the ACC really plays close to that.

Along with that concern, NC State simply hasn’t forced turnovers on defense lately. They’ve played five straight games with a TO% under 15%. Thus far, Texas Tech and Oakland have settled for more 3s than 2s. The Golden Eagles will take those – and have shot very well on them at 36% to this point – but they’re also more capable of getting to the rim with a 41.8% shot share on Close Twos.

I find this to be a really bad matchup and I have concerns about the layoff for NC State as well, not to mention a step up in class to a Quadrant 1-A game. Up until the ACC Tournament, NC State was 1-8 against Top 50 opponents as defined by Torvik.

Pick: Marquette -7

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