Ricky Dimon
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The college football regular season has come and gone (aside from Army-Navy), which means basketball temporarily has center stage among the college ranks (aside from bowl-game announcements on Sunday afternoon). This week’s festivities on the hardwood are wrapping up with a decent-sized slate of action that is mostly highlighted by the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12. Among the teams taking the court on Sunday are North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Xavier, Oklahoma State, and Ohio State.
I have the Tar Heels tipping off this parlay, joined by Arizona and Xavier.
North Carolina -6 alternate spread (+150)
Arizona -11.5 (-110)
Xavier ML (+145)
Parlay odds: +1069
For this parlay we are going with two favorites against the spread (one on an alternate spread) and one underdog on the money line. Let’s break down each of the three legs one by one.
North Carolina -6 alternate spread over Georgia Tech (+150)
North Carolina is coming off a massive victory over Michigan in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Tar Heels played their most complete game of 2021-22, scoring 72 points on 46% shooting from the field, and the defense — which has been torched through the early part of the season — held the Wolverines to 51 points on 35% shooting. Caleb Love leads the Heels with 16 ppg, but the real force is 6’10’’ junior Armando Bacot — who is averaging 15 ppg while shooting 64%. Georgia Tech is coming off a home loss to Wisconsin in its Big Ten/ACC Challenge outing. An area for concern for this Jackets team is defending the paint, allowing opposing team to shoot 67.9% around the rim per Hoop-Math. Sizable frontcourts could hurt the Jackets this season. UNC has exactly that, so the visitors could win this one by even more than the -3.5 spread suggests.
Check out our North Carolina vs Georgia Tech preview
Arizona -11.5 over Oregon State (-110)
Arizona is 6-0 to start the season. This will be the Wildcats’ first conference game of the year and their first true road game, too. They just spanked Sacramento State 105-59 and they are currently the top-scoring team in the nation at 91 ppg. The Cats are also first in field-goal percentage defense – needless to say that is a pretty good combination for sustained success. Oregon State, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the two extremes. To say that the Beavers have not been able to sustain the success they had last March when they made a surprise run to the Elite Eight would be a gross understatement. They are off to a dreadful 1-7 start, which includes a loss to Cal to begin Pac-12 play. The offense has really struggled this season, scoring only 65 ppg. Arizona should win this one going away.
Check out our Arizona vs Oregon State preview
Xavier ML over Oklahoma State (+145)
Xavier is off to a strong start with just one loss to Iowa State. With wins against Ohio State and Virginia Tech, the Musketeers have shown they can compete with high-level competition. This is a chance to build out their NCAA tournament resume to an even greater extent. Also helping that aim is the return of forward Zach Fremantle from injury. He played 6 minutes in their last game against Central Michigan and did not score. That was an easy win, but Xavier could use a lot more production from him (and will probably get it) in this road date with Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are looking to rebound from a loss to Wichita State. It was just their second loss of the season and in both cases they failed to score more than 55 points. They are 6-2 but it has not been smooth sailing since losing No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham to the NBA. Don’t be surprised if Xavier wins outright as a +3.5 underdog.
Check out all our college basketball previews and picks for Sunday
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