College Basketball Picks

The SEC champion Auburn Tigers take to the court at Vivint Smart Home Arena to battle the Kansas Jayhawks in a solid Round of 32 game. Auburn just got by a pesky NMSU 78-77 team in their NCAA tournament opener and Kansas put a 87-53 beat down on an overmatched Northeastern club. Some bettors are starting to wonder if the SEC overrated and the public is favoring the Jayhawks. Hmmm. Read on to get Dan’s pick on this game.

An interesting Round of 32 match-up has the Villanova Wildcats versus the Purdue Boilermakers tipping off at 8:40 PM on Saturday night. Nova has put it together at the right time and have proven that they can get it done on a neutral court going 8-1 on the campaign. Do they have one more in them against a quality Purdue team? Read on to get our prognosticator’s point spread pick.

The Murray State Racers are off an impressive 83-64 beat down of Marquette in the opening round. Florida State on the other hand had a tough go of it against Vermont. Can the Racers handle the size of the Seminoles? Read our handicapper’s take on the game and see where he thinks your money should land.

The Wofford Terriers will put their 21-game win streak on the line when they take the formidable Kentucky Wildcats. The NCAA basketball board has UK as a 5.5 favorite with the total line offered up at 138.5 points. Matt takes a look at all the angles and gives out his ATS prediction.

Baylor has been all over the lace this season, being good enough to sweep Iowa State and get the win versus Texas Tech but playing crappy enough to lose an Oklahoma State at home. There’s no telling what we’re going to get from Baylor, but the Bears showed what they’re capable of giving against Syracuse by hitting 16 shots from behind the arc. Can a hot Baylor team keep them within 13 of the Zags? DJ has your college hoops pick!

The Badgers are a team that love to slow things down. They should matchup well with Oregon because both teams are relatively low scoring teams and defend very well. They have a guy named Ethan Happ, who is a monster in the low post, and with Bol Bol being sidelined for Oregon that may be a big advantage for Wisconsin who sportsbooks opened as 2 point favorites. Matt Lowry digs deeper.

The Gaels aren’t a great team, but they’re on a bit of a run, having won 10 in a row to get to this point. Iona has found its way to the Dance for the fourth straight year. But do they have what it takes to improve on last year’s result where they lost by 22 to Duke? DJ has your Iona vs UNC prediction!

Big favorites versus teams that will make the most of every minute including garbage time are tough to bet on. For the casual bettor it can be the stuff of ulcers. Your team is up by 35 early and you still have to sweat the second unit! Against a NDSU like this that can shoot it and shoot it well, you run the risk of allowing them to hang around and keep the game within a reasonable deficit. That’s doubly true against a North Dakota State. The Bison are excellent from the charity stripe and would easily be able to keep the game’s margin under 25 points if they can create enough opportunities. In a game where a team like Duke is up 25, there’s a tendency for reserves to get lazy on defense and give up open looks in the dying seconds. Dan Jamison predicts if that will be the case for Duke and gives his free pick!

Virginia is the number one defense in the country in points allowed per game at 55.1). They allow their opponents to shoot just 38% from the field and 27.2% from the three-point line. The question for bettors to consider is – Will we see the Virginia defense from the majority of the season or the Virginia defense from the Florida State game. FSU shot over 56% from the field. Can Gardner Webb recreate FSU’s game plan and get open looks? Matt has your free pick.

Baylor gonna Baylor. Actually, the Bears’ tendency to choke on the biggest stage wasn’t even given a chance to rear its head this time, as the Bears went into a four-game skid at the end of the season, losing convincingly in the Big 12 tournament to Iowa State to cap their regular season. Can the Bears rebound from its nasty Iowa State loss and beat Syracuse straight up? DJ has the basketball pick!