College Basketball Bets
A light college basketball card kicks off a new work week, as we have 18 games on the betting board. It was a jam-packed weekend on the hardwood and we’ll have a lot of good games coming up over the next several days, but Monday is light on both quantity and quality. We do have one banger with Kansas vs. Texas Tech, but most of the other games come from lesser-known conferences.
Along with that Big 12 tilt, we have games from the ACC, Southland, Big Sky, SWAC, Patriot League, Ohio Valley, MEAC, and Big South. With a light slate, it is a good time to familiarize yourself with some of the teams from the low-majors and other one-bid leagues in hopes of getting a leg up on the sportsbooks from following those teams and conferences. With low volume in games like that, you can definitely find some edges and bet into softer numbers.
For more college basketball best bets today, check out Greg Peterson’s daily article and Tyler Shoemaker’s TSI Projections/Best Bets on weekdays.
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 VSIN30 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.
Howard Bison (-13.5, 146.5) at Coppin State Eagles
6 p.m. ET
A little MEACtion on a Monday here, as Coppin State heads to Howard for the first tip-off of the evening. The Eagles just got Demariontay Hall back after he missed several games and he’s injected some instant offense, scoring 28 points in 38 minutes of action. It could have been even more if he hadn’t gone 6-of-16 at the free throw line in his first game back.
I’m not sure how sustainable it is, but Coppin State is shooting over 37% on 3-point attempts in conference action thus far. Opponents are shooting nearly 36% from deep against Howard, as they’ve been outscored beyond the arc a lot. But, their shooting woes could get the right dose of elixir here being at home and against a Coppin State squad that is simply terrible on defense. How terrible? Opponents are shooting 46.5% from 3 against them. That’s an outrageously high number and one that should positively regress for them at some point, but they’re giving up way too many open looks.
Both teams foul a ton and Howard is really good about getting to the free throw line. Coppin State has been good about getting to the stripe in their conference games, so I expect we’ll see a good chunk of points with the clock stopped in this game.
Howard should also quicken the pace of this game. Coppin State has turned the ball over on nearly 24% of their possessions in MEAC games. Howard forces a lot of turnovers and plays at the second-fastest tempo in the conference. Seems like a lot of reasons to expect points here.
Pick: Over 146.5
New Orleans Privateers (-2.5, 150.5) at East Texas A&M Lions
7:30 p.m. ET
To the Southland Conference we go, where I’ll be fading East Texas A&M once again. It worked out on Saturday when they lost as a short favorite against Nicholls. They’re in a sort of similar situation here, but as a small dog, and it is a similar spot in that this is also an opponent that they have already lost to this season.
Nicholls won the first game by 22 and the second one was a lot closer, as the Colonels won by four, but that was good enough to get to the window. In this matchup, New Orleans won the first game by 10, but led by as many as 15 in the second half. It was not a close game throughout. We don’t need a blowout here, but I think we’ll still get the preferred outcome.
The Privateers are second in this conference in adjusted offensive efficiency. They are third in eFG% offense and defense. They don’t force a lot of turnovers, which is why their defensive efficiency numbers aren’t as strong, but they have done a really good job of challenging shots. Opponents are only shooting 46.2% on 2s against them in conference matchups. In the first game between these two, East Texas A&M was just 11-of-31 on 2s.
This is a really bad Lions team on both offense and defense, especially when it comes to 3-pointers. The Lions are shooting just 31.4% on 3s and opponents are firing away at 37%. New Orleans isn’t a great distance shooting team and went just 7-of-27 in the first meeting, but still won by double digits. Even though this game is on the road, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Privateers do a bit better from beyond the arc.
New Orleans is also a drastically better free throw shooting team. That is definitely something that could come into play with a closely-lined game like this.
Pick: New Orleans -2.5
