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College Basketball Best Bets

Welcome to our college basketball best bets section where we outline our top college basketball plays each day throughout the 2024-25 season. If you want our plays for all other college basketball games then head over to our College Basketball Picks And College Basketball Predictions page. We have free picks for every game on the slate and a weekly parlay.

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Pickswise Experts (1)

8:49 PM ETTomorrow

Point Spread PickBest Bet

Houston +5.5(-110)Houston @ Duke

Reasoning

After a long and grueling college basketball season, all roads have finally led to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. Not only have all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, but we’ll get to see the top 2 teams per KenPom square off on Saturday, when the Houston Cougars will take on the Duke Blue Devils in the nightcap at the Alamodome. The winner will advance to the National Championship game game on Monday to play the winner of Florida vs. Auburn on the other side of the bracket.

Both teams took different paths to get here, but the end result is ultimately the same. Duke absolutely rolled through all of its opponents in the East Region – Mt. St Mary’s, Baylor, Arizona and Alabama – thanks in large part to complete performances on both ends of the floor. This is a team that has been able to win in different ways all season long, and the Blue Devils certainly look like the best team in the country at the moment. As for the Cougars, Kelvin Sampson’s rough and rugged team showed that it is well-equipped to handle whatever challenges are thrown its way, as Houston survived back-to-back stern tests against Gonzaga and Purdue — winning both games by a combined 7 points — before demolishing an excellent Tennessee team last Sunday to advance to the Final Four. And while Duke is the team garnering all of the national headlines, I’m of the opinion that Houston is very live in this game, giving the underdog some real value with the points.

When factoring in data from the entire season, I can’t get anywhere near this number with Duke. In fact, my projection would be closer to a pick ’em line when looking at the totality of the season for both teams. Given that we have to take what we’ve seen in the NCAA Tournament into account, the Blue Devils should certainly be favored. With that said, Houston catching more than one possession is a bit much. especially since this profiles as a game that will have fewer possessions than what we’ll see in the other Final Four matchup. After all, the total for this game is currently listed in the mid-130s, which puts a premium on every point we can get with an underdog in this matchup.

This game presents us with a fascinating clash of styles, and the winner will likely be the team that is able to impose its will on the game stylistically. Duke is elite in all areas, but the Blue Devils’ strengths on defense — defending in transition and at the rim — don’t align with what Houston wants to do offensively, which could be an edge for the Cougars here. Houston loves midrange jumpers, and the Cougar bigs do a stellar job of crashing the offensive glass and kicking the ball out for open threes. When they do get those attempts from deep, the Cougars shoot the ball at a very high percentage (39.7% as a team, good for 2nd in the nation). We just saw the likes of Emmanuel Sharp, LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan make jumpers against a tremendous Tennessee defense, so that formula is certainly replicable against a Duke team that is more than happy to let a team beat it with jumpers.

On the other side of the ball, Houston is probably the toughest opponent for a team like Duke to deal with, especially since Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils are going to be seeing this type of aggressive, physical, swarming team defense for the first time all season. The Cougars have the innate ability to shape any contest into the ideal game they want to play, and given that they are playing as well as any team remaining in this tournament, it’s hard to ignore taking the points with the top rated defense in the country. Houston’s veteran know-how, physicality and dominance on the glass should end up being the difference against a Duke team that while excellent, is certainly not invincible against an opponent of this caliber. All things considered, I have to take the points in a game that should come down to the wire.

Houston vs Duke prediction: Houston +5.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to +4.5

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Caleb Wilfinger

NCAAB Best Bets

61.0%

Win %

36Wins

23Losses

0Pushes

Percentage only includes Wins and Losses

College Basketball Video

Welcome to our college basketball best bets section where we outline our top college basketball plays each day throughout the 2024-25 season. If you want our plays for all other college basketball games then head over to our NCAAB Picks page. We have free picks for every game on the slate and a weekly College Basketball Parlay.

What Are Our College Basketball Best Bets

At Pickswise our team of expert college basketball handicappers research all of the best college basketball action throughout the season and into the NCAA tournament- March Madness itself, with the sole aim of bringing you the most informed and best free college basketball bets.

Our experts will make their predictions every day of the college basketball season with picks in each of the Top-25 teams’ games during the regular season, and every single game throughout March Madness, and if you don’t want to wait for March you can get ahead with our NCAA Basketball Futures picks and predictions.

With so many college basketball games taking place each day, often over 100 during the college basketball season, it can be difficult to determine what our best college basketball bets are. For that reason, all of our college basketball predictions and picks come with a star rating ranging from 1 to 3. Three stars indicate our highest level of confidence in our picks, and our top plays or best bets are posted right here on the College Basketball Best Bets page, every day.

Best College Basketball Bets Today

You can find all of our college basketball best bets today, right here on the best bets page.

With so much action taking place each day during the season, it’s a tough task researching every game in the required detail to see long-term success. That’s where we, at Pickswise come to the fore. Our designated college basketball handicappers follow every morsel of college basketball action to provide you with the most informed college basketball bets today. We let our analysis and research do the talking, with full reasoning accompanying every best bet selection.

What Are The Best College Basketball Betting Sites

There are many ways in which you can wager on a college basketball game, with the most popular markets being Against the Spread, Totals, and Money line picks. There are also many online sportsbooks or betting sites in which you can place these wagers.

So what are the best college basketball betting sites?

Well, much of that is based upon opinion, with different users favoring different sportsbooks’ design or interfaces, the access to a mobile app, and many other determining factors. One thing that all bettors must prioritize with our best bets and finding the best betting sites are the College Basketball Betting Odds and betting lines on offer at that sportsbook.

Not every sportsbook prices up a game the same way. It is a competitive industry, and that gives the edge to the bettors, who can shop the odds to find the best betting lines or odds. An extra point or two against the spread can often decide if a bet wins or loses, and why place a wager at +200 when you can get +300 elsewhere.

College Basketball Locks

A College Basketball Lock or our College Basketball Lock picks is our best bet on today’s college basketball slate. The sheer frequency of College Basketball matches means it’s a tall task to wager on them all, and near impossible to turn a profit if you do. Being selective in your college basketball betting is key to long-term success and our College Basketball Locks help you do just that. All our top plays include full analysis, right here every day of the season, make our College Basketball Locks your starting point when you wager.

College Basketball Lock Of The Day

Looking for a College Basketball Lock of the day? Well, you’re in the right place. Our College Basketball Lock of the day will be right here on our College Basketball Best Bets page every day throughout the College Basketball season, right through to March Madness itself. With so many games played on any given day, it’s impossible and not recommended to bet on every game. What you’ll find here is our College Basketball handicappers’ College Basketball Lock Of The Day, our most confident pick to hone in on those best picks. Each College Basketball Lock Of The Day will be accompanied by a full preview and analysis for the lock, and you can also check out how our College Basketball Lock picks have been doing across the season.

Experience + Data = College Basketball Best Bets

At Pickswise we believe in our expert team of handicappers, and you should too. With decades of experience watching, analyzing and wagering on NCAA Basketball, our best bets are the peak of all that experience and it’s why we have so much confidence in our selections.

We don’t just take this experience for granted however, all of our picks, predictions and especially best bets require hours of statistical analysis from our expert team, and we’re more than happy to share that with you – all of our College Basketball betting advice comes with detailed reasoning, including comprehensive explanations, statistical analysis and research.

Andrew Wilsher, Pickswise Managing Editor

More Than Just College Basketball Best Bets

At Pickswise we don’t just cover College Basketball Predictions, collegiate sports fans will be pleased to know we also have free weekly expert College Football Best Bets too.

We also have expert handicappers for each of the professional sports in North America so be sure to check out picks for every game including our NFL Best Bets, MLB Best Bets, NBA Best Bets, and NHL Best Bets all season long.