College Basketball Picks
A more compact college basketball schedule is on tap, as we have 24 games ranging from 3 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET. There are only three really late games at 9 and 10 p.m. ET, respectively, with the majority of tonight’s action coming in the 7 p.m. window. As we know, there are still a lot of big spreads out there and also a lot of games between teams that don’t play each other often, so there are those weird travel spots and schedules to think about.
Handicapping early-season college basketball is a big challenge because there are so many new faces and moving parts, but it is also a market that provides a ton of opportunity for those who are prepared. That’s one reason why our 2026-27 College Basketball Betting Guide is so valuable. Also a reason why Steve Makinen’s College Basketball Daily Matchup Ratings will be useful.
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 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 Circa Sportsbook or DraftKings Sportsbook (mostly Extra Games) at time of publish.
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Indiana Hoosiers (-25, 169.5) Prediction
6:30 p.m. ET
Pick: Tennessee Tech +25
The Golden Eagles represented themselves well in the season opener against Mississippi State, scoring 1.130 points per possession in a 106-88 loss. Not stopping the Bulldogs wasn’t a big surprise and the team followed it up against Western Kentucky with 1.113 PPP surrendered, but it was another strong offensive effort from first-year head coach Tobin Anderson’s team.
In fact, Tennessee Tech had one Quadrant 3 win from the 2020-21 season through last season under John Pelphrey. Three games in, Anderson already has one. It took a little magic, as the Golden Eagles were 19-of-36 from 3, but they were 19-of-23 on Close Twos against Mississippi State and had seven And-1s. So, they proved that they could play inside in that game and then proved that they could score from outside against WKU.
So far, the Golden Eagles have only taken 15 mid-range jumpers in their D-I games, so Anderson’s really preaching a Rim & 3 philosophy. Whether or not they can find success with that against Indiana remains to be seen, but the Hoosiers allowed 1.035 PPP to Bellarmine two games ago and Tennessee Tech looks to be on a stronger trajectory than that.
This is a bit of a sandwich spot for the Hoosiers, as they just beat Syracuse in a neutral setting and have Arkansas and Kentucky in neutral venues coming up after this game. Head coach Darian DeVries will probably empty the bench at the first chance he gets with those two big litmus test games on the horizon. Meanwhile, Anderson, the architect of Fairleigh Dickinson’s win over Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, will be able to get across the importance of this opportunity.
Stetson Hatters at Howard Bison (-10, 150.5)
7 p.m. ET
Pick: Stetson +10
From the Extra Games board, we get Stetson vs. Howard. To call this a step down in class for Stetson is an understatement. So far, Donnie Jones’ team has played Clemson, South Carolina, and West Virginia. This temporarily concludes the road gauntlet, as lower-division Florida Memorial will be Monday’s opponent. After that, the Hatters play Louisville and South Florida before going back home for two more lower-division opponents. Then they’ll play Miami (FL) and Cincinnati before getting some more manageable games.
They have to be looking forward to this game and they are also not looking up at their opponents for the first time this season. In the three games against those power-conference teams, the Hatters allowed 15 dunks, surrendering 1.289, 1.372, and 1.374 points per possession. However, per Torvik’s game charts, Clemson is seventh in Average Height and 56th in Effective Height (height of players on the inside), South Carolina is 33rd in Average Height and 13th in Effective Height, and West Virginia is 91st in Average Height and 60th in Effective Height.
Stetson is only 164th in Effective Height and 218th in Average Height. Howard is 136th and 141st, respectively, so this should be at least somewhat better of a matchup on the inside for the Hatters. Howard is a team that does try to get to the rim at a high rate, so the Stetson bigs will be under duress again, but it shouldn’t be nearly as much of a mismatch. Those three opponents combined to shoot 73.2% on Close Twos.
With a 10-point head start and a much smaller shooting backdrop, I’d expect Stetson to be in this game. The Hatters have taken a 3 on nearly 45% of their shot attempts and they’re only shooting 53.1% on free throws playing in those large gyms. While Howard is stepping back in class themselves, they only had .939 PPP against Yale and .847 PPP against Penn. Stetson surely isn’t that good on defense, but this does look like an offense still trying to learn how to play together.
Loyola-MD Greyhounds at Towson Tigers (-14, 133) Prediction
7 p.m. ET
Pick: Towson -14
Another game from the Extra Games board, as we get Loyola MD against Towson here. Towson struggled to open the season in Santa Clara and Salt Lake City, but secured a 20-point win over LIU upon returning to the East Coast. It was definitely an odd start to the season playing on West Coast time and the Tigers lost by 19 and by 10, as they actually did a decent job on Utah, holding the Utes to 67 points in a 66-possession game.
Expect another slow-paced affair here from Pat Skerry’s team, which does make covering big spreads a little bit of a challenge, but the Tigers should have some strong advantages here. The first is that they are often an excellent offensive rebounding team. Even in the loss to Santa Clara, Towson had 18 ORebs. In 2+ seasons under Josh Loeffler, the Greyhounds have not been great on the offensive glass. They are also terrible at getting to the free throw line by not getting to the rim. They settle for a lot of long jumpers.
Under Skerry, Towson has been among the top 30 offensive rebounding teams every season but two dating back to 2011-12. They haven’t had as much success getting to the free throw line over the last two seasons, but that was previously a hallmark of the Tigers and Skerry would like to get back to that. Towson also turned Utah over 27.5% of the time in that game, so they’ve done a good job to win the possession battle between the ORebs and the TOs.
That’s how you cover big numbers with a low-possession team. I’d expect the Greyhounds to settle for a bunch of long jumpers and to not have answers for Towson’s physicality. Towson won by 11 in a neutral setting in last year’s season opener, but Torvik has Towson higher-ranked right now than they were at that time last season and Loyola MD is ranked lower. That was also a game Towson led by 18 with about six minutes left. Hopefully they don’t ease off the gas here.
