College Basketball Predictions: 3 Best Bets for Tuesday, December 9

With the College Football regular season departing, we welcome the College Basketball season with open arms. The Super Tuesday slate has a slew of Top 25 teams playing, and conference matchups are beginning.

So, let’s get into some of those matchups and get you what I think are the best bets for each. Best of luck with all of your action on the hardwood.

Best Bet : UConn -5

Game Two of the Jimmy V Classic features two Top 25 teams going head-to-head at Madison Square Garden. Florida is coming into this game at number 18 in the country at 5-3. With close and respectable losses against (1) Arizona and (3) Duke, they do have one not-so-respectable loss against TCU.

No hate against TCU, they’re just not Arizona or Duke. However, UConn comes in at #5 at 8-1. UConn’s lone loss on the young season was a 4-point defeat against first-ranked Arizona. Dan Hurley has his team playing well early, and with how good they’ve been defensively, I can’t bring myself to back the Gators in what will be a majority UConn crowd at MSG.

Best Bet: Illinois -3.5

Illinois heads to Columbus tomorrow for its first Big Ten Conference game of the season. Personally, I think the books are massively overvaluing the Buckeyes, so let’s break down why. Illinois is 7-2, OSU is 7-1. Similar.

Both teams average just under 89 points per game, and both allow about 69 points per game. Again, similar. Here’s where Illinois pulls away. Illinois’ Strength of Schedule is 26th in the nation. OSU’s 295th. Illinois has already played 4 ranked teams, going 2-2. Those two losses are to the current #5 and #12 ranked teams in the country.

Ohio State really hasn’t played anybody worth mentioning, and their lone loss was to Pittsburgh. Yes, they are undefeated at home, but that’s against teams that likely won’t sniff the Top 25 in any poll this season. Illinois is coming off a massive road win at #13 Tennessee, and I don’t see them slowing down when they travel to Columbus. I think the Illini win this game handily.

Best Bet: Villanova +16

When I first saw the line, my thought was “whoa”. In fact, that’s still where I’m at. Michigan has been nothing short of dominant so far this season, putting up 100+ points in 3 of its last 5 games. The game is in Ann Arbor, and I don’t think Villanova can go in there and pull off the upset.

However…. Villanova always feels like one of those teams that you can never count out. One of those “I have them going deep in my bracket” teams, and when you don’t take them, they win it all. I don’t think this is that team, and I don’t think that this is that game, but Villanova scores point and plays pretty damn good defense.

Both teams average giving up 66.5 ppg, and Michigan has yet to play a defense that compares to their own. While Michigan averages 94.6 ppg and Nova is at 83, I go back to my prior point. Michigan’s scoring in the last two games has dropped off a bit, and while I do think they win this game, I think Villanova keeps it close enough for us to take advantage of this inflated spread.