College Basketball Picks
We’ve got a lot to choose from on this Veterans Day holiday, as there are 48 college hoops games featuring a Division I opponent against another Division I opponent. We’re going to continue to get some quirky matchups and some big lines in these games as the blue bloods try to get into rhythm and the small athletic departments get in the rhythm of making money to fund the rest of the season and other sports endeavors. But, we’re also getting some really good games with some marquee non-conference matchups. It’s been an exciting start to the season and hopefully that continues tonight.
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.
Old Dominion (-5.5, 139.5) at Norfolk State Prediction
7 p.m. ET
Pick: Old Dominion -5.5
Mike K. Jones has a pretty clean slate to work with this season after going just 12-20 in Year 2 with the Monarchs. However, he did return sophomore Zacch Wiggins and senior Jared Turner, giving the roster a good foundation from deep. Both guys shot 38% beyond the arc for a team that shot 36% overall in that department. So, that was a good starting point to be able to focus on other needs in the portal.
Last year’s Monarchs were really soft on the offensive glass, a major departure from the previous season. Through two Division I games, ODU has 22 offensive rebounds thus far. They’re also shooting 50% on 2s and 45.7% on 3s, so there haven’t been a ton of ORebs up for grabs. Jones also wanted to get some more aggressive defenders, as the Monarchs were 318th in the nation in TO% on defense. They have 24 takeaways in two games, including 16 against a pretty decent Western Michigan squad.
Norfolk State has a couple of wins against lower-division opponents and one very ugly defensive data point against William & Mary. The Spartans allowed 1.429 points per possession and the Tribe shot 15-of-34 from 3. Robert Jones often has the best or one of the best teams in the MEAC, but it usually takes some time. The team has to take its lumps in non-conference and the top players are often poached from the portal.
Big man J.C. Riley Jr. looks like a weapon in this conference, but he was at Northwestern State last season and only played 18% of the available minutes, so he’s easing his way into a starting role. Dramane Camara is back after taking 32 shots for the Spartans last season. Twenty-eight of them were 3s. Five of them went in. Bashir Laster from UT Arlington shot 17.9% from 3. Chris Walker shot 42.2% from deep at Binghamton, so he and Riley could be huge parts of this offense, but it could be a real slog at the outset.
Norfolk State is playing a lot of freshmen already this season as well. The Spartans only lost by 3 at ODU last season, but I think this Monarchs team is quite a bit better and this Norfolk State team is likely worse. Mike Jones can also use that close game as a motivator to keep his Old Dominion squad focused.
Pacific (-6, 136.5) at Long Beach State
10 p.m. ET
Pick: Pacific -6
More road chalk for me here, but I really like what we’ve seen from Pacific thus far and what we saw from Pacific last season. While the season ended with a whimper, the Tigers had Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga on the slate at the end of the regular season and then ran into Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament. For a team that wasn’t very deep, I’m not at all surprised that they seemed to run out of gas a bit.
But the gas tank is full at this time of year and the Tigers just scored a very impressive win in my eyes on the road at Bradley. The Braves do have a ton of roster turnover this season, but Brian Wardle is a great head coach and that was a long trek for Pacific. Bradley is typically a really good defensive team and they forced the Tigers into a lot of mid-range shots, of which only eight of 22 of those shot attempts fell. The Tigers held Bradley to just 52 points.
Last season, Pacific really sold out to keep teams away from the rim. Their shot share against on Close Twos was 13th-best in the nation. Usually they’re the team funneling opponents into long-range jumpers, but Bradley turned it around on them and they still won with a suffocating defensive effort. Now they’re stepping down in class and back in California with a short trip to Long Beach.
The Tigers have a really promising holdover in Jaion Pitt, a 6-foot-11 Houston transfer in Jacob McFarland, a Kansas State transfer in CJ Jones, and a pure bucket-getter in Jaden Winston from Manhattan. Long Beach State got a lot bigger with 7-foot-2 Noah Amenhauser from Oregon State and 6-foot-10 Caleb Smith from Grand Canyon, but both guys are negative defenders per Torvik’s Defensive Box Plus-Minus and neither one is particularly efficient on offense.
The Beach were badly outrebounded by Utah and Montana State and, while they only lost to the Utes by three, they led by 17 early in the second half and let it slip away. It seems like Utah just started slow and figured things out in time. Dave Smart won’t let Pacific start slow here, as he’s looking to build up the reputation of this program. After going from nine wins in Year 1 to 18 wins in Year 2, I trust he’ll find success in Year 3.
