College Basketball Best Bets Today:

We have 21 games on the college basketball betting board for Wednesday. Given that we only have seven tomorrow and 11 on Friday, it will feel like a busy night. Like I’ve been mentioning throughout the week, exams are going on, so the focus is on trying to keep everybody eligible. Next week, I’ll be talking about how home-court advantage is cut down, as athletes will be the only players on campus.

So, it’s a bit of a weird time in CBB, but we’re a few weeks away from being inundated with games, so enjoy the shorter schedules and the time to catch up on what has happened to this point.

 

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We have a ton of content rolling in here at VSiN on a daily basis, so you may want to bookmark our College Basketball Articles page so you can find this and also Greg Peterson’s top CBB bets of the day.

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

This article will run Monday-Saturday. 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.

Milwaukee Panthers (-5, 159) at Green Bay Phoenix

7 p.m. ET

A Horizon League matchup between Milwaukee and Green Bay makes up a pretty interesting game. The Doug Gottlieb era is off to an uninspiring start, as the Phoenix are just 2-8 thus far with five straight losses, including defeats at the hands of Evansville, Campbel, IU Indy, and Cleveland State, so we’re not talking about a murderer’s row.

Gottlieb, who is from Milwaukee, had never coached at any level and was working as a college basketball analyst when the Phoenix hired him. To that end, I’m not really surprised to see no semblance of an offensive plan. Green Bay is chucking 3s at a 52.4% clip and ranks as one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the nation. The Phoenix are also bad on defense, ranking 323rd in eFG%, 316th in 3P%, and 284th in 2P%.

To their credit, the Phoenix have made a lot of shots, but I’m not sure how sustainable that is moving forward. In fact, they’ve been held under .950 points per possession in three of the last four games as teams are making some adjustments against them.

Milwaukee is extremely well-coached under Bart Lundy and this is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the nation. The Panthers are struggling from deep and at the free throw line, but guys like AJ McKee (35% career 3P%) and Kentrell Pullian (33%) are well below their career averages. 

The Panthers also have a 48% shot share on Close Twos, but have only scored at a 56.5% clip on those attempts. That should improve as we move forward as well. I see positive regression for Milwaukee and a team without much direction for the Phoenix.

Pick: Milwaukee -5

Arkansas Pine Bluff Lions at Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (-10.5, 156.5)

7:30 p.m. ET

Digging deep for this one, as one of the nation’s worst basketball teams heads back out on the road. That is Arkansas Pine Bluff, who will be in Monroe, LA to take on the Warhawks.

While UAPB definitely has an ugly set of metrics, I’ve been impressed with this team offensively given the gauntlet of a schedule. The Lions have already played four Quadrant 1 games and two Quadrant 1-A games as defined by Torvik, who ranks them 58th in strength of schedule. KenPom has the Lions with the 27th-highest SOS by Net Rating.

Despite that tough schedule, UAPB is actually 148th in eFG% offense against Division I opponents. They’ve done a solid job of finishing around the rim and have shot 32.1% from 3. The national average 3P% vs. D-I opponents is 33.2%. Well, UAPB might be below average, but they’re not 325th at 27.9% like ULM is.

The Warhawks are also shooting just 44.4% on 2s and rank 343rd overall in eFG%. And this is a team that has played the 278th-ranked schedule per Torvik and 204th by Net Rating per KenPom. I don’t really see any positives from the Warhawks, who are also shooting just 65.1% at the free throw line. So even if they have a lead late, it seems unlikely that they’re a lock to add to it.

Pick: Arkansas Pine Bluff +10.5

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