College Basketball Best Bets Today:

More than 100 teams are in action again today on the college basketball hardwood, as we have 59 games to think about. Maryland vs. Ohio State draws top billing, but we have an awesome game in the Summit League between St. Thomas and South Dakota State, as well as a good one between Saint Mary’s and San Francisco in the West Coast Conference.

Three games get us going at 6 p.m. ET and our latest tip will be at 11 p.m. ET between former Pac-12 and now Mountain West rivals Washington State and Oregon State. It should be a fun night of basketball.

 

***Top College Basketball Betting Resources***

*Join thousands of other sports bettors and unlock access to picks, public betting splits data, & the VSiN live video broadcast by upgrading to VSiN Pro. Grab your first month for less than $10.*

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

This article will run Monday-Saturday (not next week, see exception above). 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.

Rider Broncs at Sacred Heart Pioneers (-5, 147.5)

7 p.m. ET

We start in the MAAC with a battle between Rider and Sacred Heart. This is one of those shot selection handicaps for me. The Pioneers have a Rim & 3 Rate of 84.6% per Torvik in games against Division I opponents. Rider has a Rim & 3 Rate of 68.9%. The Broncs settle for a lot of mid-range jumpers and I’d rather have the team that takes a 3-point shot about 13% more often and also makes that shot nearly 7% more often.

Rider’s adjusted offensive efficiency numbers in conference play are propped up by a low TO%. They are third in conference in adjusted offensive efficiency, but 10th in eFG%. They’re also 10th in eFG% defense. They’re only shooting 31.1% from 3 in league play, while Sacred Heart is shooting 35.9% from 3. For good measure, the Pioneers are also about 6% better on 2-pointers.

Rider may have a small edge on the offensive glass and could edge out the Pioneers in the turnover battle, but Sacred Heart is going to make more shots. They have the better offense, the better offensive strategy, and are at home, which can’t hurt.

Torvik has this -7.5 and Haslametrics also has Sacred Heart by about 7.4. I tend to agree that this line is a little cheap.

Pick: Sacred Heart -5

UT Arlington Mavericks at Utah Valley Wolverines (-8, 143)

8 p.m. ET

UT Arlington and Utah Valley square off in a rematch of the Jan. 16 game that ended 85-83 in overtime in favor of the Wolverines down in the Lone Star State. It was about as evenly matched of a game as you will find, as the Mavericks competed well, but did commit eight more turnovers in the game and Utah Valley also had seven more free throw makes on 13 more attempts.

The Mavericks have won four straight since then and definitely seem to be a stronger team than last year’s version. I think the Wolverines are worse, specifically on offense, where they rank 263rd in the nation in eFG% per Torvik. The biggest weakness defensively for UT Arlington has been defending the 3, where they are 309th in the nation. But, 3-point shooting is not a big part of Utah Valley’s game.

The Wolverines are 347th in 3P Rate and 326th in 3P%. Otherwise, the Mavericks have defended 2s well, ranking 72nd in the nation. Arlington is also a solid 3-point shooting team at 36.7%. I’m just not sure we see Utah Valley make enough 2s to overcome the 3s that the Mavericks have the chance to make.

In the first meeting, UT Arlington was actually held below their season average slightly, going 9-of-26 from 3, but Utah Valley was only 4-of-17. I was impressed with how the Mavericks competed on the offensive glass and expect them to keep this one close as well.

Pick: UT Arlington +8

Little Rock Trojans (-4, 135) at Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles

8:30 p.m. ET

We head to the Ohio Valley Conference for this one between Little Rock and Southern Indiana. A little bit of movement towards the Trojans pushed them out to a bigger road favorite in this tilt from -3 to -4. I agree with the line move here.

The first meeting was a 20-point win for Little Rock back on Jan. 12. Southern Indiana had 16 offensive rebounds in the game and still only mustered 58 points in 65 possessions. The Screaming Eagles only went 7-of-17 on shots at the rim despite all those ORebs. They were missing second-leading scorer Jayland Randall, but Little Rock was missing second-leading rebounder Tuongthach Gatkek, so I wouldn’t expect Southern Indiana to have the same success on the glass here.

Little Rock is an elite defensive team, ranking ninth in the nation in eFG%. They’re also 28th in TO% on defense, which is good enough to overcome their high TO% on offense. The Trojans won the turnover battle in the first game and I expect the same here. I also expect them to neutralize Southern Indiana’s distance shooting, as the Trojans and their aggressive defense have held opponents to just 29.6% from 3.

Pick: Little Rock -4

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR