College Basketball Handicapping Articles

NCAA Basketball Betting Advice: Against the Spread Studs and Duds
by Trevor Whenham - 12/14/2017

We have made it through much of the nonconference season in college basketball, and some conference games have even been played. Before we get into the heart of conference play after Christmas, though, this is a good time to step back and take a look at the teams that are really treating bettors well and those that are burning cash in bulk. These are not the absolute best and worst betting teams in the country - just the ones that are high profile enough to get the attention of semi-casual sports bettors. Here, then, are the ATS studs and duds in college basketball to this point in the season:

NCAA Basketball Betting Advice: Differences Between Conference and Nonconference Wagering
by Trevor Whenham - 12/6/2017

December marks a very important shift in college basketball from the wild west world of the nonconference schedule to the crucial grind of conference play. And thanks to the quirks of schedule making, that shift is happening earlier than usual this year. It's a very significant shift for players and perhaps even more of a shift for bettors. If you bet conference play in the same way as nonconference play then you are going to struggle to see ideal profits.

Expert College Basketball Betting Advice: Mid-Majors to Watch
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2017

Mid-majors in college basketball are teams that typically only get paid any attention once about February rolls around. People first notice them when they might knock major conference teams out of the tournament, and then they really pay attention to them when they are filling out their brackets and looking for first-weekend upsets. In November and December, though, it's rare that a mid-major gets much attention unless they pull off a shocking upset.

NCAA Basketball Betting Advice: Top Teams that are Hard to Handicap
by Trevor Whenham - 11/17/2017

The college basketball season has only just begun. We have had a couple of high-profile games, but for the most part it has been mismatches and glorified scrimmages. It will be a while until we really know anything about any teams. Still, some high-profile teams are easier to get a sense of right now than others. In particular, there are five teams in the Top 25 - Top 15, actually - that are particularly tough to figure out in my eyes.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Underrated NCAA Hoops Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 11/17/2017

The college basketball season is underway, but we are still quite a while away from the time when the casual betting public will pay real attention to the sport. It's a good time, then, for us to take stock of teams and conferences to see where they are at. What we want to focus on today are five teams that aren't going to be picked by anyone to contend in their conferences but which have the potential to be much better than expected. Here are five underrated, under-the-radar college basketball teams:

College Basketball Expert Handicapping: Louisville after Pitino
by Trevor Whenham - 11/17/2017

It was not the offseason that the Louisville Cardinals dreamed of. Or really the last 18 months or so. Scandal has piled upon scandal, so instead of being one of the elite basketball programs in the country getting ready for a new season, they are dealing with change, conflict and uncertainty. Obviously, the firing of Coach Rick Pitino and AD Tom Jurich leaves bettors with all sorts of questions. Is this team going to be able to live up to their potential?

College Basketball Handicapping: Biggest Games on the November Schedule
by Trevor Whenham - 11/16/2017

The first truly great college basketball game of the season occurred on Tuesday when No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Michigan State met for an early determination of NHL supremacy. Showdowns like that, while ultimately not that significant in terms of the determination of a national champion, are part of what makes the nonconference season often so compelling and exciting. That game has really whet the appetite for big games. Here is a look at 10 of the most interesting and significant games between now and the end of November:

Expert College Basketball Betting Advice: How to Bet Early-Season Games
by Trevor Whenham - 11/10/2017

College basketball season is here. Finally. Starting Friday and stretching into April we will have an incredible number of games every week. I love it - as a fan and especially as a bettor. There are so many games where you can find betting opportunities no matter what you like. Big games? Check. Way, way off-the-radar conferences? Check. High-profile stars? Sure. Solid role players? Lots of them. The college basketball season is like one of those massive buffets in Vegas - it has everything anyone could want, and it doesn't matter if you want different things than most others.

2017 SEC College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 11/1/2017

For the past two seasons SEC brass have been touting their schools' coaching hires and pushing the narrative that the league is on the rise. The results have been mixed. Last season the SEC finished the year as the No. 5-rated league in the country just one season after finishing No. 6. The SEC hasn't been in the Top 4 since 2012, with a low point in 2013 when they finished the year rated No. 7, behind the Pac-12 and the Mountain West.

2017 Pac-12 College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/31/2017

While this Pac-12 basketball season will serve as a rebuilding season for most of the top programs in the league, there is one that will be experiencing a Renaissance. USC has been under renovation for several seasons, and now Andy Enfield is ready to watch the Trojan wreck shop along the West Coast and challenge Arizona for league supremacy.

2017 Big Ten College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/30/2017

Big Ten basketball is usually one of the most popular arenas for college basketball bettors to ply their trades each season. The combination of well-known programs, nationally-televised games, and ample line value has made this conference, after the ACC, one of the most wagered on leagues in the country each winter.

2017 Big 12 College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/30/2017

Gravity. The sun rising in the east. Kansas winning the Big 12 Championship. It is nice that in a chaotic world there is still some semblance of certainty. And Kansas provides that by continually dominating one of the best conferences in college basketball. This isn't Kentucky owning the feeble SEC or Gonzaga crushing the comical WCC. Kansas is playing in a league that routinely sends at least half of its members to the NCAA Tournament, and the Jayhawks often leave little doubt as to who is the dominating force in Midwest hoops.

2017 Big East College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/27/2017

In terms of college basketball handicapping, the Big East Conference is one of the most difficult in the sport to make picks and predictions for. And the reason is simple: these teams are all really, really good. Much like the Big 12, the smaller size of the Big East (10 teams) compared to leagues like the ACC (15), Big Ten (14) and SEC (14) means that there are fewer "tiers", less bottom feeders and easy wins, and thus more parity throughout the league.

2017 ACC College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/27/2017

There's a dark cloud hanging over ACC basketball this season. The FBI's investigation into college athletics and illegal bribery has already claimed a Hall of Fame coach and threatens to expand beyond the two programs, Louisville and Miami, that it has already engulfed. Add in the controversy surrounding the North Carolina program and there is a lot of lingering cynicism around this league as we head into the season.

2017 Atlantic 10 College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/25/2017

Over the past five years the Atlantic 10 Conference has surpassed the Mountain West as the best mid-major basketball league in the country. The Atlantic 10 has sent at least three teams to the NCAA Tournament for 10 straight years, including back-to-back seasons with five teams in The Big Dance in 2013 and 2014. And while the A-10 will be hard-pressed to match their now expected three bids this season, there are still a lot of excellent players and coaches toiling in this oft-overlooked conference.

2017 AAC College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/25/2017

The American Athletic Conference, the afterbirth of the Great Conference Realignment earlier this decade, continues to be a sloppy hodgepodge of college basketball programs. Well-regarded powerhouses like Connecticut and Cincinnati, respected programs like Temple and Memphis, and upstarts like SMU, Tulsa and Houston have been sharing the court with bottom-feeders like Tulane, East Carolina and South Florida since the league's inception in 2013.

Robert Ferringo College Basketball Betting: 10 Years Of Dominance
by Robert Ferringo - 10/16/2017

Anyone that has ever gambled on sports can tell you that certainty is an illusion. It's a myth. The Legend of The Sure Thing. All manner of chaos exists in the mathematics of both sports and betting. And the reality is that death and taxes are still the only certainties in life.

2018 NCAA Basketball National Championship Odds and Expert Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 4/5/2017

As I write this we are still less than 24 hours away from that truly awful NCAA Tournament Championship Game, Both teams conspired with the refs to make it mostly unwatchable - and not just because my team lost. I don't want to spend any more time than I absolutely have to thinking back to that game - or the rest of what was a pretty flat tournament overall, really. Instead, this is a good time to look forward - and to hope that next year's tournament offers a better finale and a better overall event.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting March 18 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 3/17/2017

Not a very interesting Thursday of the NCAA Tournament as it was almost completely chalk. The only big "upset" was Middle Tennessee beating Minnesota to keep the No. 12 over No. 5 first-round trend going, but the Blue Raiders were also slight favorites. I recommended them, by the way. I was also correct on Iowa State -6 over Nevada but missed on Vanderbilt -1 over Northwestern. More on that below. Even though the favorites dominated straight up, the underdogs had a huge day against the spread -- killing the sportsbooks in that regard. Neither No. 1 seed on Thursday (Gonzaga, Villanova) covered a big number.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting March 16 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 3/15/2017

Thursday brings one of the best sports days of the year, especially for someone who works at home as I do. It's wall-to-wall hoops - and something to have on as background noise during the day other than wall-to-wall gas bags Stephen Smith or Colin Cowherd. True, it's also one of the most distracting days of the year work-wise, but I'm happy for the trade-off. My Final Four picks are: Duke in the East, West Virginia in the West, Kansas in the Midwest and North Carolina in the ridiculously-stacked South.