College Basketball Handicapping Articles

Expert College Basketball Predictions: Weekly MAC Betting Report and Picks
by Chris Vasile - 2/21/2017

This past weekend's "MACtion" was pretty straightforward with very little surprises. Favorites went 4-2 against the spread, with the only notable outright loss being the Akron Zips losing at home to Kent State. To some, that result may be shocking, but to me it wasn't. The Zips' main focus is to stay healthy for the conference tournament, while Kent State is battling tooth and nail for positioning and a better chance at securing the MAC's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 21 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/20/2017

Crushing news for NCAA Tournament bubble team Michigan State as it has lost starting shooting guard Eron Harris for the season to knee surgery. In Saturday's loss at Purdue when he drove the baseline for a layup, Harris landed awkwardly and eventually was taken from the court on a stretcher. The senior, who transferred after two seasons at West Virginia, was averaging 10.7 points per game and led the team in 3-point shooting with 43 makes from beyond the arc.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 18 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/17/2017

Saturday's home game vs. No. 25 Notre Dame likely will be rather uncomfortable for NC State head coach Mark Gottfried as he was fired Thursday but will finish out the season. Gottfried asked to be allowed to do so out of loyalty to his players, so you have to respect that. He has an overall record of 122-82 at NC State, and he had three years left on his contract worth a total of $2.3 million. There's no way the Wolfpack should be 3-11 in the ACC with a mega-talent in freshman point guard Dennis Smith Jr., a sure-fire Top-5 pick in this year's NBA Draft.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 16 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/15/2017

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee says it takes a key player's injury status into consideration when determining a team's fate on getting into the Big Dance or what its seeding will be. So I'll be curious what happens to bubble team Virginia Tech now that one of its best players, Chris Clarke, is done for the season. He was hurt in Sunday's upset of Virginia, and early this week an MRI revealed a torn ACL in his left knee. Clarke is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.4 points per game, and leads the Hokies in rebounding at 7.3 per game. He also leads the team in steals with 30 and is second in assists with 79.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 15 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/14/2017

The University of Oklahoma - it always irritates me to see the Sooners' football helmets that say OU when it should obviously UO - has made the NCAA Tournament every year since 2013. Last year's club, led by Buddy Hield and Jordan Woodard, reached the Final Four. Any shot this year's struggling Sooners had of some sort of miracle run in the Big 12 Tournament to earn an NCAA berth probably vanished on Sunday when the school announced that Woodard is done for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.

NCAA Basketball Betting Advice: How to Wager on High-Profile Bubble Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/14/2017

The field for the NCAA Tournament is always quite different from year to year. With so many teams and relatively few spots, that's inevitable. There are those teams, though, that we always just assume will be in the bracket. This year there are several of those teams that are seemingly always in that find themselves perched squarely on the bubble right now. Some would be in and some would be out if the tournament would start today, but all have work left to do to lock down a spot. That means that they are highly-motivated teams - and bettors love motivated teams.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 14 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/13/2017

What did we learn from the NCAA Tournament selection committee's release of its current top four in each region on Saturday? I projected Gonzaga, Villanova, Kansas and Baylor would be the four No. 1s, and they were. I'm a tad surprised that the unbeaten Zags weren't the top overall seed as that went to the defending national champion Wildcats.

Expert College Basketball Predictions: Weekly MAC Betting Report and Picks
by Chris Vasile - 2/13/2017

There are six games left in the MAC regular season, and teams are starting to feel the effects of a rigorous campaign. To break down the MAC, you must first place the teams into three categories - good, inconsistent and bad. The only good team in the MAC is the Akron Zips. They own an 11-1 conference record. They are guaranteed a double-bye, and I really like their chances at getting an auto bid to the NCAA tournament by way of winning the MAC title.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 2/13/2017

It's already the middle of February, and we are a little less than three weeks away from the first conference tournaments tipping off. The March Madness action will be here before you know it. We'll try to make some money before it rolls around.

NCAA Basketball Handicapping: Gonzaga Unbeaten Record May be Bad Sign in NCAAs
by Trevor Whenham - 2/13/2017

The Gonzaga Bulldogs soundly dismantled St. Mary's for the second time this season on Saturday night to move to 26-0. The Gaels are their toughest conference rival by far, so the path is now set for the Bulldogs to run the table and be undefeated heading into the postseason. They are now the 11th team in the last 40 years to open with at least 26 wins.

2017 NCAA Tournament Field Projections and Predictions for March Madness
by Robert Ferringo - 2/10/2017

Selection Sunday is March 12, and the NCAA Tournament begins with the play-in games set for Tuesday, March 14, in Dayton. The first round begins on Thursday, March 16, and the Final Four will take place on April 1 in Phoenix. I know that "bubble speculation" is one of the most hyped up, annoying, and integral parts of the NCAA Tournament season. Speculating about who will make the field is a cottage industry (and the genesis of articles like this one). However, by my count the bubble field is pretty shallow right now.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 11 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/10/2017

A reminder that on Saturday, CBS will air the March Madness Bracket Preview show at 12:30 p.m. ET time, where the NCAA Tournament committee will unveil its top-four seeds in each region as things stand now. It's the first and last time this preview will take place this season. Selection Sunday is then 29 days from Saturday. My predictions for the top seeds in each region are Villanova in the East, Baylor in the South, Kansas in the Midwest and Gonzaga in the West. No huge surprises there and pretty much what every expert has. I think Baylor is the weakest of those four and won't finish as a top seed. Either the ACC or Pac-12 champion will take that one.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Under-the-Radar Teams that Could Make Noise in March
by Trevor Whenham - 2/10/2017

Now that football season is over, attention for many bettors starts to shift - at least somewhat - towards college basketball. And just in time - soon enough we'll be into conference tournaments and then the Big Dance. In anticipation of that great time of year, this is a good time to look beyond the high-profile teams and pick out some of the under-the-radar teams from smaller conferences that, if they make the field, could do some damage.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 9 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/8/2017

Get ready for wall-to-wall promotions on ESPN for the next 24 hours or so - I'm sure they started a few days ago - as college basketball's best rivalry is renewed Thursday night for the first time this season when North Carolina visits Duke. The schools are just eight miles apart on Tobacco Road, with UNC the state's flagship public university and Duke a private school that's probably 85 percent comprised of rich kids from the Northeastern USA. I get tired of all the hype around the rivalry, but I always end up watching - some of the pranks between the student bodies are legendary -- and surely will Thursday.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 8 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/7/2017

The record for the number of teams from one conference to reach the NCAA Tournament in a season is the Big East when 11 of its 16 members reached the field in 2011. That conference has since been watered down with teams like Syracuse and Louisville leaving for the ACC. And it's the ACC that could potentially tie or break that mark this year with I think 11 schools currently having a shot - and maybe an unlikely 12th wins the conference tournament. The ACC already holds the record for the greatest percentage of its league members in the Big Dance. It put six out of nine teams in the tournament in both 1996 and 1997.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 2/7/2017

With the football season now in the rear view mirror, the action on the hardcourt will be getting most of the attention over the next few months. It's only six weeks until the NCAA Tournament. Be ready for some bigger lines on the public favorites as more bettors jump into the college basketball betting market in the weeks ahead.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 7 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/6/2017

If we are being honest, a lot of success in life is simply because of who you know. Or what type of family you come from. I mention this because I wonder how much rope John Thompson III will get at Georgetown simply because he's the son of the former Hoyas coaching legend. Barring a miracle run to the Big East Tournament title, the Hoyas are going to miss the Big Dance for the third time in four years. There's really no excuse for that at Georgetown with its history and all the excellent high school basketball players in that area of the country. If the Hoyas don't close the regular season with some momentum and at least an NIT berth, Thompson III could be gone.

Expert College Basketball Predictions: Weekly MAC Betting Report and Picks
by Chris Vasile - 2/6/2017

Last Tuesday's MAC action started off so promising in terms of wagering. I was looking dead set on going 2-0 with my free picks, until disaster struck and the Ohio Bobcats forgot how to play defense and score the basketball. Ohio held a 19-point advantage at one point in the first half before allowing Western Michigan to pull to within six at the break. From there, it was all Broncos as they poured in 52 second-half points en route to a five-point win. To make matters worse, the late game followed a similar script.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 4 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/3/2017

As with some of this weekend's NBA games, BetOnline is offering cross-sport props on a few top college basketball players against Super Bowl LI between the Patriots and Falcons. I won't go through them all, and I recommend you go check them out. Here are a couple of examples: The total number of points, rebounds and assists by North Carolina star Justin Jackson (-115) vs. Notre Dame against the longest reception by Patriots receiver Chris Hogan (-115); or the number of points by Kentucky star freshman Malik Monk (-115) at Florida vs. the number of receiving yards for Patriots running back Dion Lewis (-115).

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 1 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/31/2017

Maybe I'm just paying more attention this season, but I can't remember a college basketball year where there have been so many key injuries to potential Final Four teams. The latest has struck Xavier, which has never made a Final Four in 26 previous NCAA Tournament appearances and probably won't this spring now. Point guard Edmond Sumner has been lost for the season to a torn ACL suffered late in a win at St. John's on Sunday when he landed awkwardly on a drive to the basket. Sumner was projected as borderline first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft had he declared; now I'd think he would return to school.