College Basketball Best Bets Today:

Another weird week of college basketball begins with 12 games on Monday. Most students have gone home for winter break, so home-court advantage should be cut down for those who are making their own numbers or simply those looking at backing a home team. Usually the athletes and a few strays are left on campus this week and next.

Big gyms with big programs might have some locals, but the student sections that often make the most noise will be pretty bare. Teams have to bring their own energy and sometimes that won’t happen, potentially having an impact, especially with really big favorites. Something to think about with 12 games on the slate today.

 

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We have a ton of content rolling in here at VSiN on a daily basis, so you may want to bookmark our College Basketball Articles page so you can find this and also Greg Peterson’s top CBB bets of the day.

Tracking sheet is here. 2023-24 for reference is here.

This article will run Monday-Saturday. Lines will be from DraftKings, as they are widely available to readers. Shop around for the best prices.

Shout-outs to Bart Torvik, Erik Haslam, and Ken Pomeroy, as those are my three primary resources for information when handicapping.

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.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish.

Cal Baptist Lancers at Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (-4.5, 146.5)

7:30 p.m. ET

The Men of Murfreesboro take on an invader from California as Cal Baptist and Middle Tennessee get together about a half hour from Nashville. The total has climbed a few points on this game this morning, but I still think it’s worth looking at the Over.

MTSU has scored at least a point per possession in every game but one this season and many are quite a bit higher than that. They’re also a very shaky defensive team, allowing at least a point per possession in five of their last six games against Division I opponents. Jlynn Counter played for the first time since November 22 and had a season-high 22 points against Belmont last time out, so the MTSU roster is back intact with his return.

These two teams pull down a lot of ORebs, with MTSU 63rd and Cal Baptist 59th in ORB% per Torvik. That leads to a lot of shot attempts at the rim, with MTSU 18th in percentage of shots that are Close Twos at 46.6% and Cal Baptist is 32nd at 45.7%. The Blue Raiders are one of 147 teams allowing opponents to shoot over 60% on those shots, so the Lancers should be able to score on the interior.

MTSU doesn’t take a ton of 3s, but Cal Baptist has allowed opponents to shoot 38.2% from deep, which ranks 337th per Torvik. I also think MTSU could play with more tempo tonight for their first game in nine days coming off of a loss to a close geographic opponent in Belmont. That could speed Cal Baptist up a bit as well.

I also like MTSU to cover here. This is a long trip for Cal Baptist just to go back and play another Big Brother game against Fresno State. They just put a lot into the game against San Diego State in an 81-75 loss. A standalone flight into Nashville with a bus ride to Murfreesboro just to head home is an odd spot. I’m not sure they’ll be fully engaged on defense here.

Picks: Over 146.5; Middle Tennessee -4.5

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