College Basketball Best Bets Today:
We have to wait until Saturday for the Final Four, but we don’t have to wait for more college basketball. Sixteen teams are in Las Vegas for the College Basketball Crown and eight of them will be in action today, as we have tip-offs at Noon, 2:30, 5:30, and 8 p.m. PT from MGM Grand Garden Arena. I gave out some info and a couple futures on the College Basketball Crown on Saturday, but now it’s time to look at each game individually and see if there’s a best bet to be had.
Like the NIT and CBI, we saw totals get bet up off the opening line, with the two late games moving 5+ points. So, the expectation here is for high-scoring affairs. Given the nature of the tournament and the desire to drum up interest in this NIL-based endeavor, it wouldn’t surprise me if we did see a big offensive breakout from one or both teams in the first two rounds of the tourney before things settle in with actual money on the line.
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.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (-5.5, 154.5) vs. Arizona State Sun Devils
8:30 p.m. ET
Admittedly, this is a hard tournament to handicap. Like bowl season in college football, motivation is a huge factor here. There are a lot of players in the transfer portal as well. So, you’re going to get lineups missing some production, but some talented underclassmen that haven’t gotten a shot yet this season will get a chance to play.
Much like playing a lot of games in Vegas, this is kind of a “vibes” tournament. The vibe around the Nebraska program sure seems a lot better than the vibes around the Arizona State program. Talented freshmen Jayden Quaintenance and Joson Sanon both bolted from the program. Quaintenance was hurt anyway, but he is a guy that had 35 of the team’s 95 dunks and was easily their best interior scorer. He missed eight games and Arizona State lost seven of them. Sanon was a 37% 3-point shooter and the team’s best mid-range scorer.
A Fansided article from last week mentioned that at an athletic department fundraiser a few days earlier, the basketball program ranked 16th in donations at the university. Leading scorer BJ Freeman was dismissed/transferred midseason. Bobby Hurley is dealing with a lot and I feel like that will leak over to the floor here.
Meanwhile, Nebraska was a borderline NCAA Tournament team before a late-season collapse and all of the quotes about the Cornhuskers’ interest in this tourney seem positive. Senior guard Rollie Worster is in a boot and won’t play, but most everybody else will. And we’ll see if 7-foot-1 Braxton Meah can get out there after having 26 of the team’s 60 dunks with an 89.2% FG% on shots at the rim in limited playing time.
Nebraska’s statistical profile isn’t as strong as Arizona State’s, but the roster is more intact and seems more plugged into this tournament.
Pick: Nebraska -5.5
