Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
There is nothing like Kansas vs Michigan State or Duke vs Kentucky on tonight’s college basketball schedule, but there are still plenty of options to work with on the betting front. Michigan, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M are among the Power 5 teams taking the floor on Wednesday, and all four are involved in our second mega parlay of the season.
Buffalo +15.5 (-110)
William & Mary +13.5 (-110)
North Alabama +21 (-110)
North Florida vs Texas A&M Over 143 (-110)
Parlay odds: +1217
For this parlay we are going with three underdogs against the spread and an over play. Let’s break down each of the four legs one by one.
Buffalo +15.5 over Michigan (-110)
While the Wolverines acquired talented transfers such as former Sun Belt Player of the Year Devante’ Jones in the offseason, they will only be returning 39.9 percent of their minutes played last year. That is the fewest out of all top 25 teams. It is true that UM remains wildly talented, but 15.5 points are a lot for a relatively new squad against a formidable mid-major opponent. Buffalo finished last season with an overall record of 16-9 and a 12-5 mark in MAC play. In the preseason coaches’ poll, the Bulls were picked to win the MAC and senior forwards Jeenathan Williams and Josh Mballa were named to the preseason All-MAC First Team. This could be a fun one; take the points.
Check out our Buffalo Bulls vs Michigan Wolverines preview
William & Mary +13.5 over Wake Forest (-110)
In head coach Steve Forbes’ first season at Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons finished with an overall record of 6-16 while going 3-15 in ACC play. Three of the six wins were against Delaware State, Longwood, and Catawba. Wake Forest began last season 3-0 before losing its first six ACC games. Although William & Mary will be without last season’s leading scorer, double-digit scorers Connor Kochera and Quinn Blair return for their sophomore and senior seasons, respectively. The Tribe are good enough to cover a lofty spread against one of the worst teams in the ACC.
Check out all our college basketball previews and picks for Wednesday
North Alabama +21 over Mississippi State (-110)
North Alabama is obviously not as talented as Mississippi State, but the Lions actually match up decently well with the Bulldogs. Their underdogs’ chances of covering lie on the defensive end, where their game-plan is to wall off the paint and force their opponents to make outside shots to beat them. Only 12 teams allowed fewer points from two-point range than North Alabama last season, and that is extremely important against a Mississippi State team that scored the 18th-most points from two-point range last year. North Alabama also was very solid at defensive rebounding last year, which is also important against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs ranked 10th last season in offensive rebounding rate, but North Alabama ranked 35th in defensive rebounding rate—extremely impressive for an Atlantic Sun team. MSU will likely be without Tolu Smith, who averaged 12.6 points and 8.5 rebounds last season.
Check out our North Alabama Lions vs Mississippi State Bulldogs preview
North Florida vs Texas A&M Over 143 (-110)
It’s easy to see both teams having success scoring the ball against the opposing defense. North Florida’s method of scoring is all about the three-ball. The Ospreys consistently attempts three-pointers at one of the highest rates in the country and Texas A&M’s defense identity is to pack the paint and encourage three-point attempts. In head coach Buzz Williams’s two seasons at Texas A&M, the Aggies have ranked 343rd and 353rd in denying three-point shots. Obviously North Florida will need to make quite a few of them in order to help the over, but the blueprint is there for an efficient offensive performance from deep.
On the other end of the court, Texas A&M will likely be able to put up points fairly easily. For starters, North Florida’s defense rated as the sixth-worst in the nation last year per KenPom. Even more concerning in this particular matchup is the way in which their defense stinks, which is their lack of interior defense and their inability to secure defensive rebounds. Last season, only 20 teams gave up more points from two-point range than North Florida and only two teams had a worse defensive rebounding percentage.
Check out our North Florida Ospreys vs Texas A&M Aggies preview
Pickswise is the home of free College Basketball Picks and College Basketball Predictions. With top College Basketball picks available daily, including our College Basketball Best Bets.
