College Basketball Handicapping Articles

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Wednesday
by Alan Matthews - 1/20/2015

Larry Brown is a Hall of Fame basketball coach, and he has turned SMU into a solid program that could make the Big Dance this season for the first time since 1993. Wherever Brown goes he wins. However, wherever Brown goes trouble seems to follow, and now the NCAA is looking into some academic issues at SMU, which has seen a handful of players leave the program, including the nation's top-rated point guard recruit, Emmanuel Mudiay, who went to play in China amid eligibility concerns. The short-handed Mustangs have a tough one Wednesday at Tulane. Here's a look at that matchup and two others.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Tuesday
by Alan Matthews - 1/19/2015

Coach John Beilein has done a terrific job at Michigan, which has made the NCAA Tournament each of the past four seasons and lost to Kentucky in the regional final last season. However, the Wolverines got some devastating injury news over the weekend that I believe relegates them to the NIT and not the Big Dance come March. Here's a look at Michigan's matchup and two other intriguing games on Tuesday.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Sunday
by Alan Matthews - 1/17/2015

Sunday is perhaps the greatest NFL day of the season with both conference championship games being played, and that no doubt will take up most of your betting attention at sportsbooks. However, if you are looking for a few solid college basketball options, perhaps to use on a multi-sport parlay with the AFC or NFC title game, here's a look at three intriguing matchups on the schedule.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Saturday
by Alan Matthews - 1/16/2015

College basketball really takes over Saturdays from now until the first weekend of April, and this Saturday's schedule is easily the best of the season thus far. Nearly every ranked team is in action, with five matchups featuring both teams ranked in the Top 25. Also, Kentucky and Virginia are the only unbeatens left in the nation, and they both are on upset alert in road games at Alabama and Boston College, respectively. Here's a look at three intriguing matchups.

NCAA Basketball Handicapping: Big-Name Teams in Trouble
by Trevor Whenham - 1/16/2015

When football season winds down, a lot of football bettors become casual college basketball bettors. It’s a good way to pass the endless days of winter. Since they haven’t been paying much attention to college hoops for the early part of the season, though, they rely on the names and reputations of teams to make their betting decisions as much as anything else. It’s not a great approach at the best of times, but it can really be a problem when proud and mighty schools have hit a rut and just aren’t playing at a level they should be.

College Basketball Handicapping: Experts Talk Syracuse Hoops
by Robert Ferringo - 1/15/2015

Flash back less than one year ago and things were perfect in the world of Syracuse basketball. Literally perfect. The Orange had just beaten Boston College to move to 17-0 on the season and were well on their way to a magical 25-0 start and the No. 1 ranking in the country. The Orange were still riding the momentum of their trip to the Final Four the previous spring and were unbeaten in their maiden voyage through a new league, the ACC.

College Basketball Betting: Overrated Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 1/15/2015

With so many teams in college basketball, people often rely on reputation and hype to make decisions about which teams to bet on. That can lead to situations in which teams are performing on the scoreboard in a way that gains a lot of attention but which isn’t being matched by their performance at the betting window. From a betting perspective, then, these teams are highly overrated — and that can get expensive if you get sucked in by their reputations. Here is a look at five of the most overrated betting teams in college basketball so far this year:

College Basketball Handicapping: Mid-Majors with Betting Value
by Trevor Whenham - 1/14/2015

I absolutely love college basketball, and one of the many reasons is one of the reasons that critics give for hating the sport — the ridiculous numbers of teams. With more than 300 squads toiling for a chance to make the tournament, there are countless opportunities for profit out there just waiting for bettors to discover them. Mid-majors are typically ignored by most bettors until the tournament rolls around, but there many good teams out there worth a look — and often times a bet or two as well.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Thursday
by Alan Matthews - 1/14/2015

The chances of Wisconsin, a Final Four team a year ago, landing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament may have suffered a big blow last week when one of the team's key players was lost to a broken foot. The Badgers still should be favorites to win the Big Ten but not as strongly now. Here's a look at Wisconsin's game against Nebraska on Thursday -- which should be very, very low scoring between two excellent defensive teams -- and two other intriguing matchups.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 1/14/2015

The Big East is two weeks into conference play, and it might be down to having just one team ranked in the next AP Top 25 following No. 21 Seton Hall’s 79-75 loss to Butler as a 2.5-point home favorite this past Tuesday night. That lone team left in the rankings just so happens to be one of the best in the entire nation at No. 5. The Villanova Wildcats will bring a 15-1 straight up record into Wednesday night’s matchup against Xavier as 11-point road favorites on 5Dimes’ current betting odds.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Wednesday
by Alan Matthews - 1/13/2015

Let's give a little love to the job Coach Larry Shatt has done at the University of Wyoming. The Cowboys are atop the Mountain West Conference and the only club in the MWC without a conference loss. UW's 4-0 start in the Mountain West is its best since 2002-03 and just one win shy of its best ever. Wyoming entered the AP poll this week for the first time since March 1988. This is a program that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2002. The Cowboys have a tough one at home Wednesday night against preseason conference favorite San Diego State. Here's a look at that and two other intriguing matchups.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 1/12/2015

We're ready to go with the fifth edition of the Schedule Spot Fade Plays weekly college basketball article. It was the first losing week for the plays last week. Minnesota lost in overtime to Ohio State in our first selection. The second selection was a nice winner as SMU routed Memphis. The final play was on Loyola (Chicago) at home against Wichita State on Sunday. Loyola was a seven-point underdog in that game, and they led by five points at halftime. It all unraveled in the second half, though, as Wichita State pulled away and won by double digits. The Shockers hot shooting and offensive rebounding was the difference.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Tuesday
by Alan Matthews - 1/12/2015

It could be quite a 24-hour stretch in Columbus, Ohio, concluding Tuesday night. The student body might still be inebriated for the Buckeyes' basketball game against arch-rival Michigan if OSU can win the college football National Championship on Monday night in Arizona against Oregon. I actually believe that result could have an effect on the hoops game -- if OSU gets blown out on the gridiron, it could leave the basketball players a bit flat.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Sunday
by Alan Matthews - 1/10/2015

If UCLA hopes to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team -- presuming it doesn't win the Pac-12 Tournament -- then the Bruins better win Sunday's home game against California. Why? The Bruins are on the road for the next three games after that, visiting USC, Oregon State and Oregon. So a loss to the Bears could being a serious tailspin or be a momentum-builder before that tough trip. Here's a look at UCLA's matchup on Sunday and two other games I like.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Saturday
by Alan Matthews - 1/9/2015

The NFL's Divisional Round of the playoffs doesn't kick off until a little after 4:30 p.m. ET time, and there's some solid college basketball action before that. Here's a look at three intriguing games on the schedule, two of which will be concluded before the kickoff of Ravens-Patriots, including a potential Final Four preview when Louisville visits North Carolina's Dean E. Smith Center for the first time as an ACC co-member. The Cardinals are +2500 at Sportsbook.ag to win the national title and the Tar Heels +3500.

College Basketball Betting and Handicapping: ATS Studs and Duds
by Trevor Whenham - 1/8/2015

As the calendar moves from one year to the next, in college basketball we see the end of nonconference play, for the most part, and the start of the real battle of the season. The beginning of the year, then, is a good time to look at which teams have rewarded those bettors that have backed them and which ones have put money in a pile and burned it up with regularity.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Thursday
by Alan Matthews - 1/7/2015

The top college basketball teams around the nation have to be feeling a little relieved today. Why? Seemingly invincible Kentucky nearly lost at home to a so-so Ole Miss team in the SEC opener on Tuesday night (I recommended the Rebels and the 23 points). So perhaps the 2015 NCAA Tournament isn't just a formality and the young UK team can be beaten. Two teams that UK could see are in the Final Four are in action Thursday night. Here's a look at three intriguing matchups on the schedule.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 1/7/2015

Conference play in the Big East opened for the season just as 2014 came to an end with five matchups on New Year’s Eve. Since that point we have seen No. 8 Villanova get tagged with its first straight up loss of the year and No. 24 St. John’s completely stumble out of the gate with three conference losses both SU and against the spread.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 1/6/2015

It's time for the fourth edition of the Schedule Spot Fade plays report. Last week's selections were 2-1 for another profitable week. The lone loser was our attempt to fade BYU in their game at San Francisco last weekend. The Cougars thumped the Dons as their tough schedule proved to be no problem for a BYU team that looks ready to make some noise this year. In last week's report, I made a note of a rare situation where I was going to fade UCLA in consecutive games on Friday at Colorado and on Sunday at Utah.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Wednesday
by Alan Matthews - 1/6/2015

Just three teams unbeaten left in college basketball after previous zero-loss schools Colorado State (at New Mexico), Villanova (at Seton Hall) and TCU (vs. West Virginia) all fell last week. Those without a loss are unanimous No. 1 Kentucky, which played Tuesday night at home, and ACC clubs Duke and Virginia. The ACC is like what the SEC West was for much of the college football season: clearly ahead of everyone else when you also include No. 5 Louisville, No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 18 North Carolina -- didn't even mention unranked Syracuse. Here's a look at three intriguing matchups on Wednesday's schedule.