College Basketball Best Bets Today:

It is a light night on the college hoops hardwood as students get back to campus after the Thanksgiving Break. With a late Thanksgiving this year, exam week is coming very quickly and we’re going to see some light cards like this as the student-athletes take their tests in hopes of staying eligible to play. That said, we do have some awesome games coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We also have a lot of teams returning home to campus after playing in neutral settings, with some playing some very big games in those tournaments. Hopefully that will create some good situational spots and inflated lines throughout the week.

 

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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.

UMBC Retrievers at Georgetown Hoyas (-17, 156.5)

6:30 p.m. ET

We’ve already seen a noteworthy line movement on this game, with Georgetown going from -14.5 or -15 up to -17 or -17.5 in the market, but I don’t think this line has moved enough as of yet.

The most important angle in this game to me is Georgetown’s height vs. the Retrievers defense. The Hoyas, even with a big lead, are going to be able to play some very tall freshmen and sophomores, including 7-footer Julius Halaifonua and 6-foot-11 Drew Fielder. It’s going to be tough for the undersized UMBC squad, with just one player 6-foot-9 and a lot of 6-foot-6 players.

Georgetown is doing a fantastic job with rim protection, holding opponents to 40.9% on 2s. UMBC has gotten inside a lot this season, but they’ve also played one of the worst schedules in the nation. So I expect them to struggle to get there in this game and their 39.4% 3P% should also regress as we go forward. The UMBC tempo is a factor here, too, as they like to push the pace and I think Georgetown will let them do that.

The Hoyas have a massive edge on the offensive glass and should be able to keep adding on throughout this one, as Ed Cooley is trying to create a new identity with a tremendous portal class and some excellent freshmen after a 9-23 season last year.

Pick: Georgetown -17

Air Force Falcons at Miami (OH) RedHawks (-6.5, 133.5)

7 p.m. ET

Slowly, but surely, Travis Steele is improving things in Oxford. The former Xavier head coach led a three-win improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 and really improved the team’s distance shooting numbers with his portal additions and recruiting last season. This season, it looks like Miami is better all around on offense, as they’re back to hitting 2s at a better clip and rank just outside the top 100 in 3P%.

The RedHawks draw a defensively-challenged Air Force team today. Joe Scott’s matchup zone has not been effective thus far, as the Falcons have allowed at least 1.05 points per possession in all but two of their eight games. They held first-year Division I member Mercyhurst to .821 PPP a couple weeks ago and a terrible Sacramento State offense to .981 PPP in a 63-61 loss at home last Wednesday.

Miami definitely plays at a faster tempo than Air Force – most teams do – and the RedHawks have a 22.1% TO% on defense this season. They should be able to speed up the pace of this game as a result and also should be able to get set up in the halfcourt. This is a spot where I don’t mind that Miami doesn’t get to the rim a ton because 7-footer Wesley Celichowski is a big presence in the middle of that defense. The RedHawks are a very good jump-shooting team so far and I think that will be the difference here. 

Air Force also takes a lot of 3s and they’re playing in an unfamiliar gym without last season’s star, Rytis Petraitis (15.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG), and without Beau Becker, who hasn’t played since the opener.

Pick: Miami (OH) -6.5

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