College Basketball Handicapping Articles

College Basketball Handicapping: Indiana a Threat for National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 2/22/2013

Indiana was ranked atop the polls entering the season. They have had a couple of rough spots since, yet, as we near March, they are back atop the rankings again. When you consider the fate of some teams ranked near them — I’m looking at you and your preseason No. 3 ranking, Kentucky — what Indiana has done in living up to expectations is impressive. But just how good are these Hoosiers in what has been a very topsy-turvy year for the sport? Do they have what it takes to go all the way? Let’s take a look:

College Basketball Handicapping: Predicting the Line on Marquee Matchups
by Aaron Smith - 2/18/2013

For the first time in quite a while, the No. 1 spot in the rankings won’t be changing hands this week. Indiana held serve by beating both Nebraska and Purdue at home. The Hoosiers had the benefit of an easy schedule this past week, but they’ll be tested in a big way in the week ahead. The Duke Blue Devils were the only Top-5 team to avoid an upset last week, but they were tripped up by a scrappy Maryland team on Saturday.

College Basketball Handicapping: Improved Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/13/2013

Sometimes teams in college basketball just aren’t at their best in nonconference play. Maybe they are inexperienced and just need to find their way. Or perhaps they aren’t focused when the games don’t really matter — nonconference play doesn’t matter much if you don’t have a strong shot at an at-large bid. Whatever the reason, it is amazing how often a team looks like an entirely different unit once conference play starts. Here’s a look at five teams that have really capitalized on the start of the conference schedule:

NCAA Basketball Handicapping: Hottest College Hoops Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 2/11/2013

It is a splintered, unpredictable landscape in the realm of college basketball at the moment. Graduation, defection to the NBA, injuries, and a shifting conference landscape has created a storm of uncertainty this year. Mix in plenty of shaky play on the hardwood, and all of this has made for one of the more volatile college basketball betting markets in years.

College Basketball Handicapping: Predicting the Line on Marquee Matchups
by Aaron Smith - 2/11/2013

Who deserves to be No. 1 after a whirlwind last few weeks in college basketball? The AP Top 25 puts Indiana at the top spot for a second straight week, while the USA Today Coaches Poll has Duke at No. 1. Indiana was upset by Illinois in the middle of the week, but their big win at Ohio State helped them stay on top of the pack. Duke nearly lost to Boston College on Sunday, but the Blue Devils righted the ship just in time to pull out a one-point win. It’s hard to remember another year where the top of the standings were so volatile from one week to the next.

College Basketball Handicapping: Predicting the Line on Marquee Matchups
by Aaron Smith - 2/4/2013

Yet another week, and yet another No. 1-ranked team has gone down. To be fair, this one was a little different than the others. You can hardly blame Michigan for losing on the road to the Indiana Hoosiers, who are also ranked in the Top 3 in the country. After all, Indiana was favored by five points in that game. Still, it’s hard to remember another time where the No. 1 spot was so tenuous. Kansas appears to be next in line for the top spot. Can they stay at the top for more than one week?

College Basketball Handicapping: Predicting the Line on Marquee Matchups
by Aaron Smith - 1/28/2013

Does anyone want to be No. 1? Duke was drilled by 27 points in Miami after taking back over the top spot in the polls last week. This is the third straight week that the No. 1-ranked team in college basketball has been knocked off. It looks like the Michigan Wolverines will take over the top spot this week, since they have held serve since their hard-fought loss to Ohio State.

College Basketball Handicapping: Bottom 5 ATS Money Burners
by Aaron Smith - 1/23/2013

There aren’t any unbeaten teams left in college basketball. While a team’s overall win/loss record gets the most publicity in the media,, to a bettor it really is who covers the spread that matters most. Last week, we took a look at the teams with the best record against the spread. This week, we’ll look at the bottom five teams ATS.

College Basketball Handicapping: Predicting the Line on Marquee Matchups
by Aaron Smith - 1/21/2013

For the second straight week, the nation’s No. 1 team fell on Saturday afternoon against a conference foe. This week it was Syracuse that pulled off the upset to knock off the Louisville Cardinals on the road. The rest of the top teams held up well in the past week. Michigan bounced back from a tough loss at Ohio State to knock off a very good Minnesota team on the road.

College Basketball Handicapping: Top 5 ATS Teams
by Aaron Smith - 1/17/2013

The college basketball season is a couple months old. There are no remaining unbeatens. As conference play gets going at full speed, the action will just get hotter over the coming weeks. For most bettors, the most important factor is who covers the pointspread and who doesn’t.

College Basketball Handicapping: Surprising Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 1/17/2013

By the time the conference season starts in college basketball, we have seen teams play a lot of games over two months. That means that we think we know what to expect from them, and for the most part we are right. Sometimes, though, teams are either much better or much worse than we expected them to be once the games really matter. For bettors who can spot those teams, that can lead to very profitable betting opportunities.

College Basketball Handicapping: the Importance of Injuries
by Robert Ferringo - 1/15/2013

Duke is not the same team without Ryan Kelly. It’s one thing to say that. But it is another thing to see the Blue Devils in action and realize how much they miss their 6-feet-10 swing forward. Duke suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, 84-76, at North Carolina State. Without their third-leading scorer, second-leading rebounder, and sharpest three-point shooter, they were outscored, outrebounded and shot just 30 percent from deep in their ACC defeat.

College Basketball Handicapping: Predicting the Line on Marquee Matchups
by Aaron Smith - 1/15/2013

In last week’s edition of this weekly article, I predicted that both Arizona and Duke would fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Indeed, both of those teams lost their first game of the year. The part that I didn’t see coming was that all the remaining unbeaten teams would lose in the same week. Wyoming, Arizona, Duke, and Michigan all fell last week. For yet another season, there will be no teams that finish the year without a blemish on their record.

Notre Dame at St. John’s Picks and College Basketball Odds
by Dave Schwab - 1/14/2013

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will look to get back to their winning ways this Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden when they tangle with the St. John’s Red Storm in a Big East Conference matchup. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

Baylor at Kansas Picks and College Basketball Odds
by Alan Matthews - 1/14/2013

It would surprise no one if Monday night’s Baylor-Kansas matchup is a preview of the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game. Despite losing stars Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor off last year’s national runner-up team, KU was the overwhelming preseason conference favorite as usual. KU was the regular-season Big 12 champ a year ago and has either won or shared the regular-season title in the conference in each of the past eight seasons.

Duke at NC State Picks and College Basketball Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 1/11/2013

Can you have a basketball game with two favorites? No. 1 Duke heads down Tabaco Road to take on No. 21 NC State at noon on Saturday. This is one of the biggest games in the ACC this season, and the first of two matchups takes place in Raleigh.

Looking Back at the Week in College Basketball Betting
by Trevor Whenham - 1/11/2013

As we get ready for another big week in college basketball action, with conference play all around, here’s a look back at the highs and lows of Top 25 action from the past week from a college basketball betting perspective:

Creighton at Missouri State Picks and College Basketball Odds
by Alan Matthews - 1/10/2013

Welcome to my first Friday NCAA basketball preview of the season. Fridays are definitely the worst day of the week in terms of quality teams in action in college basketball. But it will give me a chance to take a look at some good mid-major teams (and Ivy League schools) that otherwise might be overlooked. And there might not be a better mid-major this season than No. 13 Creighton -- sorry, I no longer consider Gonzaga a mid-major with its decade-plus run of success. Other than the Zags, Creighton is the highest-ranked non-BCS conference school in the country, just ahead of Butler in the AP poll.

Arizona at Oregon Picks and College Basketball Odds
by Dave Schwab - 1/9/2013

The Arizona Wildcats will look to remain perfect on the season when they head to the Great Northwest to face the Oregon Ducks in a Thursday night Pac-12 clash. All the action from Matthew Knight Arena is set to get underway at 9 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

Clemson at Duke Picks and College Basketball Odds
by Dave Schwab - 1/7/2013

The Clemson Tigers will face their toughest test of the season this Tuesday night when they go on the road to square off against the No.1 Duke Blue Devils in Durham. All the action from Cameron Indoor Stadium is set to get underway at 7 p.m. (ET), and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.