March Madness is right around the corner, and the cream is starting to rise to the top in college basketball. Houston, Alabama, Tennessee, UCLA, and Purdue all look like top contenders. Is this the year that the Cougars finally get over the hump?
There are only 14 games on the college hoops betting board today, but we still found some value. Here are 2 College Basketball Best Bets for Monday, February 6! Best of luck, and let's cash!
Duke Blue Devils @ Miami Hurricanes
Duke has had an up-and-down year thus far in the wake of the departure of Coach K. They have won 4 of their last 5, including 3 straight games. They previously faced this Miami team a few weeks back in Cameroon Indoor, where they picked up a 68-66 victory.
Kyle Flipowski led the way for the Blue Devils in that previous meeting. He finished with 17 points and 14 boards. Jeremy Roach came off the bench to add 14 points and 7 boards in the win. 6 of their 21 boards came on the offensive end, where Duke ranks 2nd in the country.
Miami is #23 in the country and is coming off back-to-backs victories over a solid Virginia Tech team at home and, more recently, over Clemson, then #20 on the road Saturday. In the previous meeting against Duke, the Canes were held to 34.9% shooting from the field.
Nijel Pack led the way for the Canes in the previous meeting with 18 points and has continually played at a high rate, with the exception of the Pitt game on the road, where he was just 2 of 6 from the field.
Isaiah Wong was held to 7 points and 2 of 8 shooting in the previous meeting. The Canes will need more out of their leading scorer, Wong, in this rematch if they plan on being victorious.
Best Bet: Duke +3.5
Duke has a distinct advantage on the offensive glass in this matchup, which, combined with Miami’s defensive efficiency ranking being well over 100, leads us to believe Duke will take the cover in this one again.
They have #6 Virginia up next and will want to get these 2 resume-building wins as they head into the home stretch of regular season play. Take the points with the Dukies!
Texas Longhorns @ Kansas Jayhawks
#10 Texas has won 4 of their last 5, including back-to-back wins over ranked opponents. After knocking off then #11 Baylor at home, they went into Manhattan and dropped #7 Kansas State 69-66.
Sir’Jabari Rice has been strong, going for 21 and 14 in those 3 wins, respectively. It was his play in place of the struggling Marcus Carr that led to their big victories. Texas is now 4-2 on the road, which is the best in the Big 12 and a big part of why they are at the top of the conference standings.
Kansas looked like they were heading in the right direction after defeating Kentucky and Kansas State after previously losing 3 straight games. However, they got beat up on Saturday in Ames, where the Cyclones defeated them 68-53.
Gradey Dick, Kevin McCullar, and Dajuan Harris combined for just 11 points on 4 of 15 shooting in the loss to Iowa State. They will need to pick up their play here at home with a visiting Longhorns team that has an offensive efficiency ranking of 13th in the country.
Best Bet: Texas +4
Texas has been playing tremendous ball, and Shaka Smart seems to have the right formula in place when playing on the road in the Big 12. While the Jayhawks' defense has been solid this season, they have struggled in the foul department.
Kansas ranks 229th in free throw-per-field goal attempts for the opposition. Texas will take advantage of that as they shoot 75% collectively from the line. Those points will be critical in a big Monday matchup.
Here are some of the key betting trends for this Big 12 battle:
- Texas is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight-up record.
- Road team is 12-4-1 ATS in the last 17 meetings.
- Kansas is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games.
- Kansas is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
