College Basketball Bets
We head into a massive college basketball Saturday with a 32-game appetizer here on Friday. Tip times started at Noon ET, so it’s an all-day marathon of hoops for those who opted to use that first PTO day of 2026 or those who are going to make it look like they are working, but really aren’t.
With 120 games on Saturday, this truly is the calm before the storm and we’ll see these 100+ Saturdays going forward now that we’re into the New Year and conference play. Friday nights will be lighter, but that doesn’t mean betting opportunities are impossible to find.
For more college basketball best bets today, check out Greg Peterson’s daily article and Tyler Shoemaker’s TSI Projections/Best Bets.
As always, I want to give a shout-out to Bart Torvik (BartTorvik.com), Erik Haslam (Haslametrics.com), and KenPom, as they provide a lot of great data. This season, we’ve also connected with CBBAnalytics.com to access their data and I’ll be working that into my article. Use promo code VSIN for $30 off at CBB Analytics and find your betting edge.
This article will run Monday-Saturday. Lines will be from DraftKings, as they are widely available to readers. Shop around for the best prices.
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 (DraftKings) and Circa CBB Betting Splits a look for these or any other college basketball games today have your interest.
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish.
Oregon Ducks (-2.5, 150.5) at Maryland Terrapins
7:30 p.m. ET
Not normally the sandbox I play in here, as a Big Ten matchup usually isn’t high on my list of college basketball games to bet on, but this one makes sense and the line is moving in Oregon’s favor. There are some big injury considerations here and I wonder if the line movement has something to do with good news for Oregon. Kwame Evans Jr. tweaked an ankle, but when it happened, Dana Altman said he hoped to have him back for the road games at Maryland and Rutgers.
On the flip side, Maryland is dealing with an injury to Pharrel Payne, who has missed two straight games with a knee injury. Maryland has one somewhat notable win over Marquette, but this is a pretty poor season for the Golden Eagles. Otherwise, Maryland’s six losses are Georgetown, Gonzaga, Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, and Virginia. Their wins are Coppin State, Alcorn State, Marquette, Mount St. Mary’s, UNLV, Wagner, and Old Dominion. Oregon fits more in the first bucket.
The Ducks are one of the nation’s top offensive rebounding teams and the Terps are small to begin with, but even smaller without Payne or with him on a minutes limit. Maryland has also allowed opponents to shoot 37.6% from 3, which should help Oregon, as they’re better on defense and the two teams have identical 34.3% 3P% marks.
If Evans plays, the Ducks will finally be healthy. Nate Bittle missed some time. Jackson Shelstad was a little slow coming back from the offseason. It is fair to point out that all of Oregon’s wins have come against lesser teams, so maybe it’s unfair to ding Maryland for that, but the Ducks do look like the more talented team on paper and have the key advantages tonight.
Pick: Oregon -2.5
Oregon State Beavers at Pacific Tigers (-4.5, 137.5)
10 p.m. ET
The other Oregon team is also on my radar tonight, as the Beavers battle Pacific in West Coast Conference action. After getting smashed by Santa Clara to open WCC play, Wayne Tinkle’s team rebounded quickly to beat a quality San Francisco squad in Corvallis. Now they’re on the road in Stockton for their first WCC road tilt.
Pacific dropped both of their WCC games earlier this week, falling by 12 to San Diego and dropping an 80-71 decision to Loyola Marymount.
Tinkle has tinkered a lot with his lineup this season, as only two players – Josiah Lake II and Dez White – have played at least 75% of the minutes. As we move forward, I feel like he’s going to shorten his rotations and rely more on his best players. One thing I do like here is that the Beavers are a 77.5% FT% team and Lake and White are two of the best, so that should help against a Pacific team that does foul a lot.
The Tigers also have a 21.3% TO% that ranks 345th in the nation, so they don’t value the basketball much. Oregon State doesn’t have a high TO%, but Tinkle’s team has the opportunity to get some extra possessions in this matchup. If they are successful, their shot volume from 3 is a really big selling point to me. The Beavers have taken a 3 on over 48% of their shot attempts this season, while Pacific has only taken one on 35.7% of their field goals. Oregon State has also made 3.1% more 3s than the Tigers.
Pacific has allowed a low shot share on Close Twos, but Oregon State’s offense runs purely through the guards and so I’m less concerned about that here. They should be able to perform well on jumpers and certainly have the chance to win this game outright.
Pick: Oregon State +4.5
