College Basketball Picks
After a simply massive college basketball card on Monday, we have 19 Division I vs. Division I games on Tuesday and 30 games overall. The blue bloods on the docket today are all playing against lesser competition, but that doesn’t mean that every game will be a cakewalk, as evidenced last night by Oklahoma’s loss to East Texas A&M as a nearly 30-point favorite. A lot of the really small conferences are represented tonight like the Southland, SWAC, MEAC, Horizon, Atlantic Sun, Metro, and NEC, so there are some hefty numbers out there.
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.
In the interest of lead time, I rarely look at afternoon games and we have a handful of those today, so my focus is later on the card with these 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 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.
Stetson at South Carolina (-19.5, 149.5)
7 p.m. ET
Pick: Stetson +19.5
This one is on the Extra Games board, as the Stetson Hatters play a second straight night in the Palmetto State. Stetson lost by 13 to Clemson last night, but did a really good job of getting to the rim, shooting 22-of-27 on Close Twos. From a jump-shooting standpoint, the Hatters were awful, going 1-of-9 from the mid-range and 6-of-24 from 3, but the offense ran pretty effectively on the inside through Magnus Entenmann and Collin Kuhl.
The expectation for this season is that Gamecocks head coach Lamont Paris will slow his team down again this season. Back in 2023-24 when South Carolina won 26 games and went to the NCAA Tournament, the team ranked 351st in tempo per Bart Torvik. The last two teams have sped up a little bit and have gone just 6-30 in conference play.
Paris doesn’t have the overwhelming size that a team like the Hatters could run into playing major-conference opponent, so I do think that Stetson could get a good share of high-percentage looks. Even though the Hatters have a game on tape and South Carolina doesn’t, I’m not sure Paris is worried much about scouting his opponent, as his roster has 12 new players and it’s more about figuring them out. Meanwhile, having played a game could really help Stetson, even if the legs get a little tired late.
North Florida at Cal Baptist (-10.5, 155.5)
10 p.m. ET
Pick: Under 155.5
The “Birds of Trey” are a long way from home, as the North Florida Ospreys begin the season at Cal Baptist. This is a team that fired a 3 on 51.7% of their shot attempts last season, a continuation of what we saw under previous head coach Matthew Driscoll. Bobby Kennen has simply picked up where he left off and this will be a team that bombs away once again.
We have a pace war here between these two teams. The Ospreys were 28th in Torvik’s adjusted tempo rankings last season. This season, the Lancers are going to employ the pack-line defense of Virginia and Tony Bennett under first-year head coach Kyle Getter. Rick Croy left to join Randy Bennett’s staff at Arizona State and the Lancers hired Getter, who has worked under Bennett, but also Shaka Smart, so that’s a bit of a contrast.
Because of UNF’s style of play, they get run-out on a lot. They were one of the worst rebounding teams in the nation in both ends of the floor last season. But, I don’t think Cal Baptist will be pushing the pace nearly as much this season. Last year’s team wasn’t quick either, finishing 252nd in Torvik’s tempo rankings, but I bet we see them slow down again, like they did in 2022-24 under Croy.
Getter has put together a roster that has a lot of big players and guys who are going to challenge shots, but probably not get up and down the floor. Furthermore, I’m not sure what kinds of shooters he has on offense, as most of the bigs are guys that haven’t really established themselves from distance at this level.
