College basketball best bets today
We are four weeks away from the first round of the NCAA Tournament and there are 64 games on the betting board. That seems rather fitting, doesn’t it? It should be an excellent night for college basketball with the games that are on the slate and we’re definitely getting more and more drama as the games increase in importance.
It was an ugly night last night, but hopefully we can bounce back with the college basketball best bets today. It’s been a really solid season overall, but there is some work to do after last night to get back on the right track.
Check the latest college basketball odds for legal U.S. sportsbooks across the country and our Vegas odds if you share a state with us here at VSiN. Also, give the college basketball betting splits a look for these or any other college basketball games today have your interest. Check out the Tracking Sheet for this season’s results and our college basketball home page for more CBB content.
Here are two college basketball best bets for today.
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish.
Radford Highlanders at Gardner-Webb Bulldogs (-5, 143.5)
7 p.m. ET
Looking at a deep cut here down in the Big South Conference, as Radford takes on Gardner-Webb. Gardner-Webb won the first game in an underdog role on the road by a 74-68 score. There was nothing too fluky about that game, as the Bulldogs did go 10-of-23 from 3, but they are shooting 37.7% from 3 in conference play, so they have been shooting the ball well anyway.
This is a pretty classic handicap for me, in that Radford has one of the lowest shot shares on Close Twos in the nation at 29.3% and Gardner-Webb is above the national average at 38.3%. Radford is ninth in adjusted defensive efficiency and eighth in eFG% defense. They have shot 3s pretty well, but they don’t get a lot of stops and are going on the road where 3-point shooting is typically more difficult.
The Highlanders have also dropped five in a row and are trending downhill, so this is a good time to fade them.
Pick: Gardner-Webb -5
UC San Diego Tritons (-3, 140) at UC Riverside Highlanders
10 p.m. ET
Must be something about teams named the Highlanders today. I’ll be on UC San Diego in this one, as the Tritons battle UC Riverside. UCSD is far and away the better offensive team and their defensive shortcomings aren’t likely to be as much of a factor here.
The Tritons are 11th in Big West play in eFG% defense and have allowed a 36.3% 3P%, but the Highlanders are 10th in both 3P% and 2P% in league action. Like Radford, this is a UC Riverside bunch with a shot share on Close Twos under 30%, so they don’t get to the rim at all. They take a lot of 3s, but UC San Diego’s 3P% is about 2% better, so I’m not sure that’s a huge advantage here either.
Both teams take really good care of the basketball, but UCSD is the better offensive team and I feel like they’ll maximize their possessions more than their opponents. They only won the first game by a point at home, but I can’t see UCR going 10-of-19 on mid-range jumpers again.
Pick: UC San Diego -3
