Caleb Wilfinger
The college basketball season is in full swing and the Pickswise handicapping team has been in good form of late. After a 3-0 Saturday on college basketball best bets, we’re heading into the final couple of weeks of the regular season on a positive note, much like many of the top teams across the country. Let’s keep the momentum going!
While the college hoops market is as sharp as it has ever been, there are still a few good value bets of which to take advantage. Let’s take a look at my best bet for the Sunday slate, but make sure you also check out our college basketball picks for the biggest games of the day.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights +7.5 over Oregon Ducks (-110)
Odds widely available at time of publishing. Playable to Rutgers +7.
While the biggest game in the Big Ten on Sunday takes place in Columbus, Ohio between Michigan and Ohio State, there is another compelling contest in the Pacific Northwest between Rutgers and Oregon. The Ducks are certainly a battle-tested unit, but things haven’t exactly been going smoothly for Dana Altman’s team of late. Heading into this matchup, the Ducks have not only dropped 5 of their last 6 games, but a couple of those losses have come in pretty demoralizing fashion. Oregon is just 3-7 against the number in its last 10 games, so its hard to imagine that the Ducks will run away from a competent Rutgers team that will have the best player on the floor in this game. Ultimately, this is a game where oddsmakers are giving Altman’s unit just a bit too much respect, which points me in the direction of the Scarlet Knights on the road.
Neither of these teams has been impressive over the past month and both will enter Sunday’s contest in desperate need of a win. With that said, some of Rutgers’ struggles this season can be attributed to injury, specifically to freshman guard Dylan Harper. However, Harper is back in the lineup and appears to be healthy following 3 consecutive games where he played at least 30 minutes in each contest. His involvement will be imperative in a game against a veteran Ducks backcourt that has struggled with consistency on both ends over the past 6 games. Oregon’s statistical profile isn’t anything to write home about, as the Ducks are a fairly solid team across the board (45th in adjusted offensive efficiency, 60th in adjusted defensive efficiency), without possessing much high-end talent. Therefore, I’d rather back Rutgers in this one, as it allows us to get all of the potential variance benefit of having Harper and Ace Bailey on the floor at the same time, which obviously raises its ceiling dramatically.
Big Ten home-court advantage has been consistently strong over the years, but it’s been noticeably weaker this season, which could be a product of the market over-adjusting to results from previous seasons. All things considered, let’s back the Scarlet Knights with the points now that we’re getting over two possessions in this spot.
Read my full prediction for Rutgers vs Oregon for tonight
