Ricky Dimon
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Good news: I cashed yesterday’s college basketball mega parlay at +1396. Better news: there’s more where that came from!
At least that’s the plan. There is no excuse for another one not to hit, because there are plenty of games to work with on a loaded slate of college hoops action on Tuesday night. A total of 10 top 25 teams are taking the court, including a pair of all-ranked showdowns (Michigan State vs Illinois and Arizona vs UCLA).
Here is my three-team mega parlay for the festivities.
Duke -9.5 (-110)
Syracuse -9.5 alternate spread (+200)
Maryland ML (+145)
Parlay odds: +1303
For this parlay we are going with two favorites against the spread – one on an alternate number – and one underdog on the money line. Let’s break down each of the three legs one by one.
Duke -9.5 over Clemson (-110)
Potential No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Paolo Banchero is pouring in 17.9 points per game and he has scored at least 20 in four of the last five games for the Blue Devils. As a team, Duke is scoring 82.6 ppg – tied for seventh in the nation. Clemson has one stout defender down low in sophomore forward PJ Hall, but it’s hard to see the Tigers being able to contain both Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr. (15.2 ppg) in the post. Other than Hall, nobody on Clemson averages more than 11.6 ppg (Al-Amir Dawes).
The Tigers have especially struggled on the road, where they are just 2-4 on the season and scoring 69.9 ppg — which is 6.9 fewer points than they score at home. Meanwhile, Duke is 12-1 at home and averaging 84.9 ppg — which is 8.3 more points than they score on the road. Defensively, the Blue Devils are limiting their opponents to 62.7 ppg (10.5 fewer points than they allow on the road). Duke should win big inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Check out our Clemson vs Duke preview
Syracuse -9.5 alternate spread over Pittsburgh (+200)
Syracuse can be a good offensive team thanks to strong outside shooting. Overall the team is hitting 37% from deep — 40th in the nation. Both Jimmy Boeheim and Joseph Girard III are shooting better than 40 percent from three-point land, and it’s only a matter of time until leading scorer Buddy Boeheim (18.6 ppg) finds the range from downtown.
Pittsburgh is the worst team in the conference this year and the metrics say it is by a wide margin. The only strength this team has is getting to the free-throw line and making those shots. That is harder to do against a zone defense, though. The Panthers scored a season-low 48 points on the road at Clemson in their last game. That is not promising.
Finally, don’t be fooled by Syracuse’s four-game road losing streak. The Orange are more than capable of getting the job done away from home. Their most recent road setback was to Duke, which is obviously an understandable result. They also lost at Georgetown by four points, at Miami (FL) by one, and at Wake Forest by three in OT. They also won at Florida State back on December 4. ‘Cuse just dominated this head-to-head matchup by 16 points at home two weeks ago and nothing should be much different on Tuesday.
Check out our Syracuse vs Pittsburgh preview
Maryland ML over Rutgers (+145)
The Terrapins are hoping to build on a surprising win over Illinois in their last game. The Illini were without top player Kofi Cockburn, but Maryland will take it. Forward Donta Scott scored 25 points off the bench to lead all scorers and the Terrapins reminded us that they actually have talent on the roster. This is another winnable spot if they can find some consistency. Rutgers is 5-3 in Big Ten play but is looking to bounce back from a loss to Minnesota in its last game. As favorites, the Scarlet Knights are 3-7-1 ATS this season. They may not even win this one outright. Fear the turtle!
Check out all our college basketball previews and picks for Tuesday
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