College Basketball Best Bets Today:
There are only three college basketball games today and all of them are early, as we have action in the CBI. All of the games in this tournament are being played at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, FL. There were supposed to be 16 teams, but only 11 accepted bids. Four first-round games were played yesterday and three quarterfinal games will be played today, as Jacksonville, Florida Gulf Coast, and Cleveland State were the top “seeds” in the field.
So those three will play today against yesterday’s winners, while Illinois State gets a bye to the semifinals and will play the winner of Jacksonville vs. Incarnate Word. My apologies for less lead time today, as these games are played at Noon, 2, and 4 p.m. ET. The semifinals on Tuesday will be later in the evening and Wednesday’s championship game is at 5 p.m. ET.
It’s a great time to sign up as a VSiN Pro subscriber, which you can become for the low cost of $9.99 for the first month. We have previews of every NCAA Tournament game coming your way as things progress.
Tracking sheet is here. 2023-24 for reference is here.
This article will run every day with CBB games through the end of the season. 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.
Queens U. Royals vs. Cleveland State Vikings (-3.5, 146.5)
4 p.m. ET
Florida Gulf Coast has the longest layoff in this tournament, as the Eagles haven’t played in 21 days. Jacksonville is next with an 18-day layoff, followed by Cleveland State, as the Vikings haven’t played since Mar. 10 when they lost to Youngstown State in the Horizon League Tournament.
Queens, meanwhile, played yesterday and secured an 85-78 victory over Northern Arizona, as the Royals took to the Ocean Center floor well with 1.296 points per possession. They were 21-of-37 on 2s and 12-of-22 on 3s. Cleveland State is above average defending 2s, but below average defending 3s. Queens is a team that has mostly optimized their shot selection, posting a Rim & 3 Rate over 85%. Cleveland State, meanwhile, takes a lot of mid-range jumpers and doesn’t take a lot of 3s. I think there’s an advantage for Queens in that regard.
Cleveland State was a good offensive rebounding team in the Horizon League, but there isn’t a whole lot of height in that conference. I think they’ll struggle to find the same success there against Queens, who was an above average team on the glass on both ends of the floor. For as much success as the Vikings had on the offensive glass, they enter 340th on the defensive glass.
The Royals led by as many as 21 in the second half yesterday, so head coach Grant Leonard was able to spread the minutes around a bit, so I don’t feel like the back-to-back is that big of an issue. Furthermore, I think Queens being able to knock off the rust of a 17-day layoff is a positive, as they should be able to start fast against the Vikings. This is a contrast of styles, as Queens wants to run more than CSU does. Unless the Vikings are disciplined, they could get caught up in a faster-paced game and struggle against an opponent who shoots much better than they do.
Pick: Queens +3.5
