When the football season is all but over, college basketball is there to give bettors a soft landing. The sheer volume of games played on a nightly basis can be overwhelming, but that means there is a lot of value to be found the deeper one is willing to go to look for it.
There is around a month left in regular season play before conference tournaments tip off, and we plan to make the most of that time. It's all about finding point spreads that are just a hair off from where they should be.
We’ve sifted through the 70+ games on Thursday’s schedule and have written up our three best bets for tonight’s action. Let’s dig in.
Best Bet: UAB (-115) over FAU
FAU enters this matchup with UAB riding a 20-game winning streak and sits comfortably atop the Conference USA standings with a 2.5-game lead over North Texas for the regular season crown. This contest is the first of two on the road this week for the Owls against teams they beat by four points or fewer on their home court earlier this season.
The Blazers lost by two in Boca Raton on January 5. Two factors likely cost them the game: they were out-rebounded 37-29 and made just 67% of their free throw attempts compared to FAU’s 86% FT rate. The Owls also got a career-high 36-point effort from sophomore Johnell Davis to offset a poor showing from their starting five.
We like to think that UAB has had this game circled since then, as FAU has remained unbeaten in the eight games since. Give us the Blazers on the moneyline Thursday night.
Best Bet: Utah -6.5 over Stanford
The Cardinal has won four straight during a stretch that includes wins against Oregon State, Cal, and Oregon, with a non-conference game against Chicago State mixed in. The Beavers and Golden Bears are in the basement of the Pac-12 with around 10 games left to play before conference tournament time.
Stanford’s victory over Oregon is noteworthy, but it was also during a four-game stretch at home. The Cardinal is 0-4 on the road this season.
Utah shot the ball extremely well in the first matchup between these two teams and was able to get into the bonus early to rack up 23 free throw attempts to Stanford’s eight. The 16 turnovers from the Utes were concerning, but looking at the season overall, they aren’t doing that routinely.
We project Utah to cover 6.5 points at home against a team that hasn’t proven they can compete on the road this season.
Best Bet: College of Charleston -7.5 over Drexel
After spending a month among the top 25 teams in the country, the College of Charleston had the numbers removed from next to their name after a home loss to Hofstra last Saturday. The Pride got hot on the right night and caught the Cougars off-guard, which we like to work in our favor tonight.
Drexel returns home where they’ve won three straight games despite struggling on the road against North Carolina A&T and Elon in the last seven days. They’ll need to slow the game down to prevent Charleston from running away from them in transition.
We don't think that'll be possible against a Cougars team motivated to secure their at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens the rest of the way.
