Expert NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week – January 23rd

For the first time in four seasons, the Kentucky Wildcats do not appear in the AP Top 25. They lost at South Carolina and at home to Florida — both unranked at the time — which made it pretty easy for the voters to send the Wildcats out of the rankings. The top five remains Villanova, Virginia, Purdue, Duke and Kansas, although we’re still waiting for the bottom to fall out for Kansas — which has a thin bench — and for Virginia — who has teased us before, only to tank in tournament time. West Virginia is at #7, but we’re waiting for that gimmick “Press Virginia” attack to get exposed. Wichita State fell from #7 all the way to #17 after losing to unranked SMU at home. What can we expect this week? Take a look at our NCAAB betting previews for this week’s action.

Expert NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week – January 23rd

Here is Monday’s updated @CBSSports Top 25 (and one) college basketball rankings from @GaryParrishCBS. 1. Villanova 2. Virginia 3. Duke 4. Purdue 5. Kansas …https://t.co/7rfIX3MGlw

— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) January 22, 2018

Tuesday, January 23

Kansas at Oklahoma (7:00pm ET, ESPN)

When Kansas lost at home to Texas Tech in their second Big 12 game, it looked like the conference might turn into a real war among five or six schools. All the Jayhawks have done since is win, going down to Fort Worth and taking down TCU and also beating then-#6 West Virginia on the road. Their latest win came on Saturday night, as Kansas overcame a late deficit to rally over Baylor — with the Bears turning the ball over on the last play of the game to hand over the win. Malik Newman put up 24 points, including seven in clutch time, to help the Jayhawks get by the Bears. Kansas struggles to control the paint but has had enough on the perimeter to make up for it — so far. They visit an Oklahoma team coming off a pair of frustrating losses, coming at Kansas State (by 18) and at Oklahoma State (by 2). They had beaten Oklahoma State at home by 20 and had also knocked off Texas Tech and TCU at home. Trae Young put up 48 points in that loss to Oklahoma State — including 34 before intermission — but the lack of balance in the Sooner offense is a problem that they will have to solve. NCAAB Betting Prediction: Kansas 82, Oklahoma 80

Wednesday, January 24

Temple at Cincinnati (9:00pm ET, CBS Sports)

The Temple Owls have had a tough time in American Athletic Conference play so far. They did knock SMU off by two on the road, but most of their other conference games have featured close losses (at Houston by 3, at home to Cincinnati by two and at home to Memphis by three). The fact that they hung with Cincinnati but lost to Central Florida by 21 shows the inconsistency at work. They were on the verge to losing to Penn on Saturday before Temple went on a 12-0 run to win by nine. Cincinnati has not lost since a six-point loss to then-#5 Florida, but the only tough AAC competition they have faced so far has been SMU, whom they beat at home. They routed East Carolina by 26 on Saturday behind 17 points apiece from Kyle Washington and Jacob Evans. They should be able to control the paint with Gary Clark inside — but which Temple team will show up? NCAAB Betting Prediction: Cincinnati 61, Temple 56

Thursday, January 25

Michigan at Purdue (7:00pm ET, ESPN)

Michigan is having some consistency issues in Big Ten play, as they dealt Rutgers a 62-47 blow on Saturday — right after going to Nebraska and getting clobbered by a very average Cornhusker team by 20. The Wolverines matched up well with Purdue in the teams’ first meeting in Ann Arbor, as the Boilermakers had to fight to win a 70-69 battle. That game came down to an Isaac Haas free throw with just four seconds left. Michigan has issues keeping up with the Boilermakers’ speed and dealing with the size Purdue has in the paint…which should make this a big night for the Boilermakers. NCAAB Betting Prediction: Purdue 69, Michigan 62