College Basketball Handicapping Articles

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Feb. 9 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/8/2016

Villanova has been a very good basketball program for many years, so I was surprised to hear that the Wildcats had never been the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll until Monday. They jumped up from No. 3, with both previous No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 North Carolina losing last week (Heels did it twice). The Wildcats had been ranked No. 2 seven times, most recently in the final poll of last season. Of course, Villanova won the 1985 national title in upset fashion over heavy favorite Georgetown, but the AP doesn't do a poll after the season.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Feb. 6 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/5/2016

I'm really looking forward to that Duke vs. Kentucky NIT Championship Game! OK, I am kidding. The two powerhouses will both make the NCAA Tournament but each could be outside the Top 25 in the new polls. Duke already is there and may or may not get back in Monday depending on what it does Saturday at home vs. NC State. Kentucky is going to fall out for sure if it loses its third straight game as it hosts Florida on Saturday.

College Basketball Handicapping: Beware the North Carolina Bandwagon
by Robert Ferringo - 2/3/2016

Groupthink is the enemy of sports betting profit. Whenever there is a generally held consensus in the world of sports - Green Bay and Indianapolis are preseason Super Bowl favorites! The Nationals are going to dominate the N.L. East! - you can all but guarantee that consensus is not only wrong, but shockingly wrong. And it almost always costs common square bettors a lot of money before they realize that these communal delusions are inaccurate and misguided.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Feb. 4 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/3/2016

The basketball rivalry in Los Angeles hasn't been much of one over the years considering UCLA's storied history against the not-so-storied of Southern Cal's. The Trojans haven't even made the NCAA Tournament since 2011 or won a game in the Big Dance since 2009. But they will come a step closer to locking down at least an at-large berth with a win over UCLA on Thursday night. The Bruins are very much on the NCAA Tournament bubble. They haven't missed it since 2012.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 2/3/2016

The month of February ushers in the meat of the men's college basketball season as teams really start to jockey for position in their respective conference tournament early next month. The current standings in the Big East through Tuesday's action features three nationally-ranked teams holding down the top three spots followed by a logjam of solid contenders all the way down to Butler at 4-6 straight up in conference play.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 2/2/2016

It's time for the eighth installment of the College Basketball Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks article. Last season was the first for this article. The month of February is here, and that should be exciting for all college basketball fans since March Madness gets underway next month. After the Super Bowl this Sunday, college hoops will be in the spotlight through the end of the season.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Feb. 3 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/2/2016

Seriously, if the Big Ten could go back and decide against inviting Rutgers to join the conference, would league officials do so? The move wasn't made with the quality of the Rutgers football and men's basketball teams in mind but instead having the New York TV market for the Big Ten Network. But that entire athletic program -- the women's hoops team is OK I guess -- is a mess and has had several off-the-field black eyes of late. The men's basketball team might be the worst in modern Big Ten history. But if there's a win to be had this season, it might be Wednesday.

NCAA Tournament Projections and Bracketology
by Robert Ferringo - 2/1/2016

Selection Sunday is usually painted as this wild, controversial day on the sports calendar. But the reality is that by that Sunday afternoon the NCAA Tournament field is generally pretty clear. There are always three or four teams battling for the final one or two spots. But beyond that the other 66 positions are pretty cut-and-dry. And at the end of the day we get a tournament field that is relatively problem free.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Feb. 2 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/1/2016

Here's something I certainly didn't expect to write this season: "unranked Duke." The defending National Champions dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday (and USA Today poll) for the first time since 2007-08. Duke had been in the poll for 167 straight weeks, the fifth-longest run since the AP poll debuted in 1948-49. The record is UCLA's 221 straight polls from 1966 to 1980. It's actually possible that Duke misses the NCAA Tournament entirely with five games left against teams currently ranked as well as a potential loss at Pittsburgh on Feb. 28.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 30 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/29/2016

Interesting decision by ESPN, the Big 12 and the SEC to stage their annual Big 12/SEC Challenge entirely this Saturday -- every game televised on some member of the ESPN family -- instead of in December with all the other nonconference events. I actually like the idea of breaking up the monotony of conference play with a one-day Challenge, and it certainly will get more publicity now, with no football at all on Saturday, then it does in December with the NFL and NCAA football still going. If the ratings are really good, we might see other such events also moved after football season.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 28 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/27/2016

I'm not sure what the best athletic season in University of Iowa history is when considering the football and men's basketball teams, but I can't remember a better one in my memory than this season. The football squad was unbeaten entering the Big Ten Championship Game, a Top-5 team and played in the Rose Bowl for the first time since Jan. 1, 1991. Yes, the Hawkeyes were crushed by Stanford in Pasadena, but still a great season. The basketball team is atop the Big Ten standings and off to its best start in years. If things break right the rest of this week, Iowa could be No. 1 in next Monday's polls. Alas, I see a loss on Thursday...

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 1/27/2016

The Big East started the week with three teams ranked in the Top 10 of both major national polls and featuring one of the biggest matchups in college hoops on Tuesday's slate. The No. 7 Xavier Musketeers prevailed as 1.5-point road favorites in a huge 75-68 victory against the No. 10 Providence Friars. The 17-3 Villanova Wildcats are still the highest-ranked team in the conference at No. 6 in both major polls, but that could very well change come next week with Xavier's big win.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 27 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/26/2016

Could Duke actually miss the NCAA Tournament? That was a question posed on ESPN on Monday night following the Blue Devils' 80-69 loss at Miami, Duke's fourth defeat in five games. Obviously talk of Duke missing the Big Dance is ridiculous right now as the team is 15-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. That said, you can easily see at least five more regular-season losses with two games each against ranked Louisville and North Carolina and one against Virginia.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 26 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/25/2016

Chances are, you didn't pay any attention to Saturday's Ball State at Eastern Michigan game unless you are an alum of one of those schools or perhaps of another Mid-American Conference university. If not, I urge you to Google the end of that game, in which Ball State hit a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in double OT for the win. I'm not sure I've seen a more poorly officiated possession than what happened there.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 1/25/2016

It's time for the seventh installment of the College Basketball Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks article. Last season was the first for this article. Parity is the name of the game in college basketball this year. There is no standout team like there was a year ago. It means there are a lot of good teams who can beat each other, and both the conference tournaments and March Madness should be a lot of fun this season!

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 23 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/22/2016

I mentioned earlier this week that I felt obligated to preview every game played by No. 8 SMU going forward as the Mustangs are college basketball's only unbeaten left. And I actually think Coach Larry Brown's team had a good shot of falling Saturday evening at Temple. Alas, that game was postponed by that winter storm crushing the Northeast -- as have some others, including No. 16 Providence at No. 4 Villanova -- so it will now be played Sunday.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 21 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/20/2016

Everyone assumed that Kentucky would win the SEC in a landslide again this season, and I'll admit I was one of those people. The SEC looked like the worst of the Power 5 Conferences in terms of depth (Power 6 if you want to include Big East) as it was last year. As of now, the Cats might not even be the third-best team in the improved league and they could fall out of the Top 25 with a loss Thursday at Arkansas, which is quite possible.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 1/20/2016

The big game on this week's Big East slate was a Tuesday night showdown between the No. 18 Butler Bulldogs and the No. 16 Providence Friars. The Friars prevailed 71-68 in a game that closed as a "pick'em" with 5Dimes to get back on track after losing to the Seton Hall Pirates 81-72 last Saturday as six-point home favorites.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 1/20/2016

The sixth edition of the College Basketball Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks article is ready to go. Last season was the first for this article. Though it is hard to believe, we are only two months away from March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Jan. 20 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 1/19/2016

The top spot in the polls is back up for grabs in college basketball. In the Jan. 19 Opening Line report, I wrote that I expected No. 1 Oklahoma to lose at Iowa State on Monday night. The Sooners did, 82-77, so their first week at No. 1 since 1990 will last just the one week. Those top teams really need to avoid the state of Iowa as three No. 1s have gone down there, with North Carolina losing at Northern Iowa and Michigan State falling at the University of Iowa. Those Tar Heels, the preseason No. 1 in both polls, now are first in line to return to the top spot.