College basketball best bets today
We’ve got 22 games on the college basketball card for today, as most of them come from the “Added Board” with the SWAC, MEAC, and Southland Conferences in action. We do have four games from the Big Sky Conference and a couple major-conference clashes with Texas vs. Baylor and Duke vs. NC State. Fairly slim pickings for the college basketball best bets today.
We also have two games from the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, which you can read all about at that link. Read about all the tourneys in our 2024 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.
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.
Here are two college basketball best bets for today.
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish.
South Carolina State Bulldogs (-7, 135.5) at Coppin State Eagles
7:30 p.m. ET
South Carolina State and Coppin State battle it out with a couple of MEAC regular season games left to go. SC State is fighting for seeding in the conference, while Coppin State is already locked into the No. 8 seed as the worst team in the field.
The Bulldogs have actually been on quite a heater, having won eight of their last 10, including a 12-point home win over Coppin State. The final margin in that game is quite deceiving, as the Bulldogs led by 20 with three minutes left. SC State actually had 18 turnovers in 65 possessions in that game, but wound up with 1.177 points per possession.
They have huge advantages on the glass and with shot selection here. SC State is the top offensive and defensive rebounding team in the MEAC and also has a shot share on Close Twos of 39.4%, which is nearly 15% higher than Coppin State at 24.7%. The Bulldogs are also shooting 35.7% from 3 in league play, while Coppin State is shooting just 31.3%. The Eagles are also the worst 2-point shooting team in the conference.
SC State sure seemed to match up well in the first game and I expect the same in the second game, especially with a lot more to play for in this one.
Pick: South Carolina State -7
Weber State Wildcats (-4, 144) at Montana State Bobcats
9 p.m. ET
The Big Sky finale for each team is tonight, as Montana State looks to probably be shorthanded in this one. I’m guessing the line move from -2.5 to as high as -4.5 has to do with Montana State’s Brandon Walker, who picked up a flagrant-2 in the last game against Eastern Washington and was ejected. Walker is Montana State’s third-leading scorer, but about their only interior threat with 177 of their 530 Close Two shot attempts. He should be suspended for this one based on the Big Sky rules. He’s got a 33.2% Usage Rate per Bart Torvik.
I also like the spot a bit more for Weber State, as they played games at home on Thursday and Saturday before heading on the road for this one. They were able to send their seniors off with an 85-58 blowout win on Saturday. Meanwhile, Montana State lost 108-104 in overtime to Eastern Washington and now comes home for the Senior Day festivities.
Weber State won the first game by 22 back on Dec. 30 and it’s been a long time since that game, so I’m not sure how relevant it is, but Walker had 17 points in 17 minutes in that game if he is indeed out tonight. The Wildcats had a big free throw advantage in that first game, which makes sense, as they are 80th in FT Rate and Montana State is 309th in FT Rate against.
Also, Weber State is simply playing better right now, having won eight of nine. They’re hot at the right time and seeding is up for grabs here, so they should keep on rolling. After beating Eastern Washington on Feb. 1, Montana State has only beaten Portland State and Idaho, two really bad teams.
Pick: Weber State -4
