Ricky Dimon
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It’s a busy time in college basketball (when is it not?!), with early-season tournaments heating up around Thanksgiving. Among the teams taking the court on Thursday are Kansas, Ohio State, Florida, Xavier, Marquette, and West Virginia. We are banking on Marquette to pull off another upset as part of today’s mega parlay.
Clemson vs Temple under 134.5 (-110)
Marquette ML (+146)
San Diego State -11.5 (+138)
Parlay odds: +1018
For this parlay we are going with one favorite against an alternate spread, one underdog on the money line, and an under play. Let’s break down each of the three legs one by one.
Clemson vs Temple under 134.5 (-110)
This is a neutral-site game (TD Arena in Charleston) with unfamiliar shooting backgrounds for both teams. There are also some signs of regression when looking at Clemson’s analytical profile. Starting with their offense, the Tigers are currently shooting 46.6% from three to start this season. There is no way that is going to continue all year, as NCAA champ Baylor led the country in 3-point percentage last season at 41.3. Eventually Clemson is going to cool off. The other sign of regression looming is with Clemson’s defense, as its opponents are currently shooting 84.4% on free-throws. That’s not going to continue, either, as no team had their opponents shoot even 80% against them last season. Lastly, both defenses in this matchup are quite simply better than both offenses.
Check out all our college basketball previews and picks for Thursday
Marquette ML over Ole Miss (+146)
Marquette is coming off a big win over Illinois and head coach Shaka Smart is settling in nicely to the tune of a 3-0 start with his new team. He has brought havoc full-court pressure to Milwaukee and has some talent to work with, too. Guard Casey Morsell never really found a role at Virginia, but he is being unleashed offensively and defensively with the Golden Eagles and is currently scoring 22.0 ppg. Forward Justin Lewis was in the program last year but he has a more enhanced role this season; he has scored exactly 17 points in every one of their games. Meanwhile, Ole Miss is off to a 2-0 start. This will be the Rebels’ first real competition, though.
Check out our Marquette vs Ole Miss preview
San Diego State -11.5 alternate spread over Arizona State (+138)
Arizona State is looking for a massive turnaround this season. Last year, the Sun Devils really struggled and it was about culture as opposed to talent. This season they are 2-1 SU but 0-3 ATS. That could just be a team with a lot of new pieces trying to fit together, or an indicator of another down season. San Diego State is 1-1 and its win came against that same Riverside team to which the Sun Devils lost. The Aztecs’ loss was at the hands of a very good BYU team—and on the road. The pundits think the Mountain West is going to be strong this season and the Aztecs should be right in the thick of that race. They have been good at attracting transfers from the Pac-12 and the most recent one is guard Matt Bradley, who led Cal in scoring last season. So far he is the leading scorer for SDSU.
Check out our Arizona State vs San Diego State preview
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