College Basketball Best Bets Today:

Thirty-five games are on the betting board for Tuesday, as we see more major-conference clashes on the schedule. The game of the night, though, looks to be in the West Coast Conference between Gonzaga and Santa Clara. Tonight’s games include the WCC, Mountain West, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Missouri Valley, A-10, ACC, Sun Belt, MAC, Patriot League, Ohio Valley.

If that seems like a lot of conferences, just wait because we’re going to be previewing all 31 conference tournaments, beginning with Sunday’s Atlantic Sun Tourney tip-off. We’ll have at least 48 hours lead time on every tourney, so March is the Month of Madness and the month of college hoops right here at VSiN.

 

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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.

Akron Zips (-8.5, 156.5) at Ball State Cardinals

7 p.m. ET

I had this game circled last week, as I figured Akron would go to Athens and beat Ohio to keep an unbeaten conference record intact. With a rematch at home against rival Kent State coming up on Friday, this trek to Muncie felt like a tough scheduling spot. Well, Akron lost to Ohio by 17 to suffer their first loss in 2025, but I still like Ball State here.

A big reason why is because Akron is struggling a bit. Their last six Game Scores per Torvik are 43, 86, 49, 66, 40, and 8, so it’s not like they’ve been playing well. They’re only 14-of-57 from 3 in the last three games, as they had a conference-low of .920 points per possession in that loss to the Bobcats.

The Zips have been scuffling on defense as well, including the first meeting against Ball State back on Feb. 4 in which they allowed 1.104 PPP. That was their highest of the conference play season until the game against Western Michigan a week later. Maybe college basketball is a little different, but I like to fade teams the game after a long winning streak ends. Teams may overcompensate a little bit or have some wavering confidence.

Ball State actually ranks sixth in Haslametrics’ “Paper Tiger Factor” metric, which means that they play up to superior competition. Akron definitely fits that bill. The Zips are also a bottom-75 team in Erik’s “Away From Home” metric. Those things, coupled with Akron’s recent efforts, make me skeptical that they can win this game running away. Ball State is a solid offensive team and they’re shooting 36.9% from 3, which ranks second in conference play.

Pick: Ball State +8.5

Saint Louis Billikens at Davidson Wildcats (-1.5, 146.5)

7 p.m. ET

As we look ahead to the A-10 Tournament, Saint Louis will be an interesting team and maybe a popular pick. Obviously first-year head coach Josh Schertz and “Cream Abdul-Jabbar” Robbie Avila were a package deal from Indiana State to Saint Louis, but this is a solid basketball team. They rank 38th in eFG% offense and 52nd in eFG% defense per Torvik, so they make a lot of shots and also defend pretty well.

The problems for Saint Louis aren’t as problematic here against Davidson. Their 18.9% TO% ranks 283rd in the nation, but the Wildcats have a TO% of just 15% on defense, which ranks 316th. Davidson is not an aggressive defense or offense. They don’t get to the rim a lot. They don’t really force the issue on either end of the floor. Those are two things that should help SLU in my opinion.

Saint Louis is also a terrible offensive rebounding team, but so is Davidson, so I don’t think the Wildcats have a huge edge in that department. This should be a game about shot-making. Davidson doesn’t get to the rim as much or take as many 3s. Saint Louis has one of the highest Rim & 3 Rates in the nation. And Davidson has allowed opponents to shoot 62% on Close Twos.

Lastly, Davidson’s five wins in conference play are against Duquesne when they were playing really bad, Fordham twice, Richmond twice, and UMass. All teams ranked lower at the time that they played and some ranked over 100 spots lower. That is not the case with Saint Louis, who has wins over Saint Joseph’s, St. Bonaventure, and VCU. They’ve just been inconsistent. Davidson hasn’t really beaten anybody good in conference play and I don’t think they do tonight either.

Pick: Saint Louis +1.5

Lindenwood Lions at Western Illinois Leathernecks (-1.5, 143.5)

8:30 p.m. ET

Senior Night doesn’t really mean what it used to in the era of the transfer portal, but this will be the last home game of the season for Western Illinois. The Leathernecks also have been eliminated from the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament already, as their regular season record isn’t good enough for consideration. But, they have the chance to rally and play well together tonight and, if they want, on Thursday night as well.

In their last two home games, Western Illinois beat Southern Indiana and Morehead State, so they were engaged in those before going on the road and getting pummeled by SEMO State and Little Rock, who, to be fair, are two of the better teams in this conference.

Lindenwood won the first meeting between the two way back on Dec. 21. The Lions are a decent team, but they could face a couple of difficulties here. First, the two teams have dramatically different shooting success, as the Leathernecks are actually 40th in the nation in 3P% at 36.9% per Torvik. The Lions are 361st at 27.5%. In conference play, WIU is actually shooting 38% from 3 and Lindenwood is at 27.8%.

The second thing is that this is the third road game in five days for the Lions and they have played two overtime games in the last week and a half. It’s late in the season. Guys are beaten up, banged up, and tired. I think the spot favors Western Illinois here, along with the big 3-point discrepancy with the Leathernecks back at home.

Most of the market is -1 on this game at time of writing, so make sure you shop around.

Pick: Western Illinois -1.5

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