Saturday’s showdown between Auburn and Kentucky was far and away the best game of the weekend, as two potential Final Four teams dueled, with the best matchup featuring Jabari Smith, the favorite to go as the top pick in the next NBA draft, taking on Oscar Tshiebwe, a contender for the Wooden Award, in the paint. Auburn and Kentucky only play once in the regular season, so Auburn got the inside track to the regular-season SEC title with the win. The Tigers are also clearly the #1 team in the nation. With the exception of the Big 12 and the Big Ten, the top six conferences all have fairly clear favorites to win the regular-season title, although it would just take an unexpected loss or two for those races to get interesting.
Let’s take a look at some of your top college basketball betting picks as the new week begins.
NCAA News: Top College Basketball Bets
Boston College (+11) at Wake Forest (O/U 141.5)
Monday, January 24 | 6:00 pm ET, ACC Network
BC comes in on the momentum of a strong home win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Eagles had come in as 6 ½-point underdogs but ended up winning by five after dropping their previous game at Louisville. That gives BC two wins in their last three contests to sport a 3-4 ACC record. They have covered in four of seven ACC games this season. The key has been Makai Ashton-Langford, who has put up at least 19 points in three of the last five contests. He leads the team with 13.2 points per game, shooting 44 percent from the field. Freshman guard Jaeden Zackery is knocking down an impressive 50 percent of his three-point shots and needs to increase his volume.
Wake Forest dropped two of their first three ACC games but have bounced back to stand at 6-3 in league games. Their last loss came against Duke but, since then, they have won three in a row, including a 98-76 shellacking of North Carolina on Saturday in a game where the Demon Deacons were just one-point favorites. They have covered the spread in three straight games now. Their top player is Alondes Wiliams, who has had 19 or more points in five of his last six games and scored 20.4 pints per game. Jake LaRavia puts up 15.6 points and 6.2 boards per game. But can Wake win by 11 or more? After they stomped the Tar Heels, it seems like the smart pick.
Final Score Prediction: Wake Forest 80, BC 65 : Bet the Game Today
Florida (-4.5) at Ole Miss (O/U 131)
Monday, January 24 | 7:00 pm ET, SEC ESPN Network
Two middling teams from the SEC square off on Monday night. The Gators rolled Vanderbilt on Saturday, 61-42, while Ole Miss took an 18-point beating from Mississippi State on the same day. Florida has won 65 of the 110 previous meetings between the two schools and won the most recent matchup by nine, back in January. Florida now has a three-game winning streak overall, and a 3-3 record in conference play. The Gators went into the locker room against Vanderbilt up by just three but started the second half of a 12-0 run and limited Vanderbilt to only 14 points after the intermission.
Ole Miss has dropped four in a row and six of seven, with a record of 9-9 (1-5 SEC). In the loss to Mississippi State, Ole Miss had a lead as big as five and went into the half down by just a point. They kept close for a while after halftime, trailing by just two with 13:21 to play, but then they gave up a 15-0 run over the next 6+ minutes, and the game got out of hand. Can the Rebels bounce back at home? I’m not betting on it.
Final Score Prediction: Florida 70, Ole Miss 61 : Bet the Game Today
#13 Texas Tech (+7) at #5 Kansas (O/U 138)
Monday, January 24 | 9:00 pm ET, ESPN
Texas Tech went 2-1 last week, including a win over West Virginia on Saturday, and they face a huge test as they head to take on the Kansas Jayhawks, who enter with a 9-0 home record and who took down Kansas State on Saturday. Texas Tech is peaking right now, with a 5-1 record in its last six games, only falling at Kansas State. Top scorer Terrance Shannon Jr has returned to the lineup, and the offense is rolling. The Red Raiders beat Kansas at home and now have the chance to sweep the season series. In their win over West Virginia, Shannon put up 23 points, dominating the rebounding and turnover battles.
However, Texas Tech has just a 1-3 road record, which is a challenge. In Texas Tech’s home win over Kansas, they forced 17 turnovers, but the Jayhawks have won four in a row since that setback. Against Kansas State on Saturday, the Jayhawks trailed by 16 and came back to win, the largest comeback from a halftime deficit in school history. Ochai Agbaji made a layup with nine seconds left to put the Jayhawks up by a point, and he tied a career best with 29 points on the day, to go along with seven boards, two assists and two blocks in 36 minutes. Texas Tech might not win this game, but I like them to cover this spread.
Final Score Prediction: Kansas 77, Texas Tech 75 : Bet the Game Today
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