College Basketball Handicapping Articles

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/27/2014

This could be the week that determines whether top-ranked Arizona actually has a chance at running the table in the regular season. While I don't consider it likely, I do think UA has a shot because the Pac-12 really isn't all that great. Other than a scare at UCLA, the Wildcats have had little trouble against their conference foes thus far.

College Basketball Betting: Saturday Odds and Analysis
by Robert Ferringo - 1/24/2014

Saturday is money day in college basketball. The games start at 11 a.m. on the East Coast and run well past midnight. In between is the overwhelming action of a thousand whistles, winners and those “what-the-hell-happened” moments that make college hoops such a spectacle each winter.

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/20/2014

The Big Ten gets picked on from a football standpoint, and that's mostly been deserved as it usually looks pretty bad in bowl games. However, I thought the Big Ten might be the best basketball conference in the land this season. After what happened last week, I'm no longer sure of that.

Free College Basketball Picks: Creighton at Villanova Odds
by George Monroy - 1/20/2014

The No. 6 Villanova Wildcats are about to hit a rough patch in their schedule when they face Creighton, Marquette and Georgetown over the next seven days. The Wildcats’ lone loss of the season came at the hands of the No. 2 Syracuse Orange last month. The team has since been on a roll, winning five straight Big East games—three of them by double-digits—and moving up in the Associated Press Top 25 as the sixth-ranked squad in the nation.

College Basketball Handicapping: Big Ten Toughest Conference in Nation
by Trevor Whenham - 1/17/2014

The Big Ten is the toughest conference in college basketball right now, and it’s not even close. There are a lot of very good teams, and if early conference action is any indication then they are going to pound each other into the ground for the next two months. For bettors, a conference this deep and this tough is a major handicapping nightmare. It seems as if anything can happen, and getting a true sense of where any team stands is very challenging.

College Basketball Handicapping: Why Duke is Struggling
by Robert Ferringo - 1/13/2014

Duke’s demise would normally lead to glee for the overwhelming majority of college basketball fans, myself included. The Blue Devils are smug villains and the most reviled program in the country. But while their shaky start in the ACC should be the source of great enjoyment, I instead find myself annoyed that a team I projected No. 1 in the country in my preseason power rankings is faltering.

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/13/2014

Are we seeing a balance of power shift already in the ACC? That conference obviously has been dominated by Duke and North Carolina for decades -- even though Florida State and Miami are the past two ACC tournament champions. It was presumed that the Blue Devils and Tar Heels would be ACC and national championship contenders as usual this season.

College Basketball Handicapping: the Last Unbeatens
by Trevor Whenham - 1/8/2014

And then there are five. When Ohio State lost at Michigan State on Tuesday night in one of the best college basketball games you could hope to see, they fell to 15-1. That means that just five teams from major conferences remain undefeated. The prospect of a perfect season is an alluring one. No team has gone unbeaten since Indiana way back in 1976, and the great 1991 UNLV squad was the last to enter the tournament without a loss.

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 1/6/2014

I thoroughly enjoy college basketball, but we should all agree that the regular season is mostly worthless, especially for veteran teams like a Michigan State that has played together for years and knows it's going to be a Top-3 seed in the Big Dance.

College Basketball Handicapping: ATS Studs and Duds
by Trevor Whenham - 1/3/2014

As we get ready to transition from nonconference play to heated conference action in college basketball, it’s a good time to look at which squads have rewarded bettors so far, which have burned bettors’ money up, and what to expect going forward:

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/30/2013

The Big Ten opens conference play this week, and here's hoping you didn't put down heavy money on defending national runner-up Michigan to win the conference this season; it was the +300 third-favorite to start the year. Now I'm not convinced the Wolverines will reach the NCAA Tournament.

College Basketball Handicapping: Teams Worse Than Nonconference Records
by Trevor Whenham - 12/26/2013

As we head into the start of conference play in college basketball, it is very important that we don’t get fooled by records and rankings that can make us think that teams are better than they may actually be. If we give a team too much credit heading into conference play then we can be destined for struggles and losses early in conference play until we can adjust and adapt.

College Basketball Handicapping: Teams Better than Nonconference Record
by Trevor Whenham - 12/24/2013

We are nearing the end of the nonconference season in college basketball. As the calendar turns to 2014, the sport turns to the determination of conference champions over the next two months. We know a lot about teams because they have already played about a dozen games. In a lot of cases, though, the nonconference schedule doesn’t necessarily indicate what we can expect in conference play.

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/23/2013

It was a very newsy week for two Atlantic Coast Conference teams, both in a good and bad way. Since I try to be a glass half-full guy, let's start with the good. North Carolina certainly has Final Four talent but has been wildly inconsistent this season. The Heels have wins over then-No. 3 Louisville, No. 1 Michigan State and No. 11 Kentucky but also a few head-scratching losses.

College Basketball Handicapping: Potential Upsets
by Trevor Whenham - 12/18/2013

We’re heading into what is essentially the last full week of nonconference action in college basketball. After Christmas the glorious conference season gets underway. That will bring a whole new set of handicapping puzzles and opportunities. Until then, though, let’s take a last look for some pleasant and profitable potential upsets:

NCAA Basketball Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/17/2013

So if I told you that Oregon is a potential National Championship contender with one of the best offenses in the nation, that would sound correct, right? Only I'm not talking about the football Ducks but the basketball version. It might be time to jump on some Oregon futures now while you can still get long odds: +5000 to win a national title at Sportsbook.ag.

College Basketball Handicapping: Possible Upset Games
by Trevor Whenham - 12/10/2013

Throughout the college basketball season, and especially in nonconference play, upsets of top teams by feisty underdogs are very common. Handicappers who can consistently spot these potential upsets can find some nice profits. Here are six games in the coming week in which the likely underdog is a live one:

College Basketball Handicapping: Top Freshmen
by Trevor Whenham - 12/5/2013

Freshmen seem to be playing an increased role every year in college basketball. This year, though, is particularly special. There are a stunning number of strong young players who are already making a big impact and who could do dramatically more as the season progresses and they grow as players.

College Basketball Handicapping: Potential Upcoming Upsets
by Trevor Whenham - 12/3/2013

As this young college basketball season has gotten underway, a theme that has emerged has been upsets of ranked teams by upstart squads. That’s usually the case in college basketball — winning games is never easy — but it seems to be even more common now than usual. Looking forward over the next week of action, here’s a look at six upstart teams that have a chance to beat their ranked (or higher-ranked) opponents:

College Basketball National Championship Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/27/2013

The college basketball season is still ridiculously young. We still don’t really know anything about what will happen in March, but we have seen enough to get a first sense of where teams are at and what might be expected. That means that it’s a good time to check in for value in college basketball National Championship futures and offer up some predictions (all odds are from Sportsbook.ag):