Tonight gives us a number of interesting matchups to analyze closely. Check out which college basketball picks are our favorites.
A lot of ACC teams are playing tonight but the lines are a
little scary. The Blue Devils are holding humongous chalk at home against Wake
Forest and the Tar Heels are favored by quite a bit too for their road trip to
Virginia Tech.
Instead of getting tempted there, I'm looking elsewhere with my NCAA basketball picks, hoping to find better value elsewhere. See what I've come up with as I provide you with my NCAA basketball predictions and picks for tonight.
Alabama (13-4 SU, 7-6 ATS) vs. Vanderbilt (13-4 SU, 7-6
ATS)
Tipoff at 7:00 PM EST
It's not often you see teams with identical SU and ATS
records in a matchup at this point in the season. Both Alabama and Vanderbilt are
enjoying solid campaigns and meet up in Tuscaloosa tonight.
After a poor mid-season stretch, the Commodores are back and
playing as well as any team out there. They've won seven in a row, six of which
came by double digits. Additionally, they beat the Crimson Tide in both of last
season's meetings.
Alabama lost their last time out, but now get to return home
where they've only fallen victim once. Still, Vandy has a highly productive
scoring duo of John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor, who average over 37 points
between them. The Commodores also have two solid big men in Lance Goulbourne
and Fetus Ezeli and I'm thinking they easily cover this spread. I would
consider a small play on the ML too.
PICK: Vanderbilt Commodores +6.5 and ML
Penn State (9-10 SU, 5-9 ATS) vs. Illinois (15-3 SU, 8-8
ATS)
Tipoff at 9:00 PM EST
Looking at those records, you'd think that sportsbooks would favor the Fighting Illini by more than four points in this spot. But that's the line
sportsbooks have set and I agree that the Nittany Lions should compete on their
own floor.
Conference play has been completely different for these
teams. Penn State has won only one of six Big Ten games, as opposed to Illinois
which has taken home W's in five of six.
The Nittany Lions scraped past Illinois by two points at home last
season. They entered as four-point dogs and here they are in a similar spot
tonight. After that emotional win over Ohio State, I see the Fighting Illini
taking a step back on the road. I'll add the home crowd and the points to my NCAA basketball betting ticket.
PICK: Penn State Nittany Lions +4
Gonzaga (14-3 SU, 9-8 ATS) vs. San Francisco (12-8 SU,
6-9 ATS)
Tipoff at 10:00 PM EST
I normally tend to stay away from playing such big chalk but
I firmly believe the Bulldogs win big tonight.
It's not like San Francisco is a bad team. The Dons are 12-8
SU this season and have won two in a row ahead of this matchup. However, you
know it's going to be a tough ask of them to stay close at Gonzaga.
This line is so high for a reason. Oddsmakers expect a
blowout and I'm in agreement as the Bulldogs have a terrific one-two punch in
the post. Elias Harris and seven-footer Robert Sacre both average at least 6.5
boards and also put up double figures in scoring. Together with go-to guard
Kevin Pangos, I see Gonzaga pulling away to win easily.
PICK: Gonzaga Bulldogs -16.5