College Basketball Handicapping Articles

Saturday College Basketball Preview: Vanderbilt at Kentucky
by Matt Severance - 1/29/2010

Apologies to Duke-Georgetown and Kansas-Kansas State, but the game of the day on Saturday is No. 23 Vanderbilt and No. 1 Kentucky because it features one of the hottest teams in the country … Vandy. Yes, the Commodores (16-3) are the team on the roll entering Saturday’s game, having won 10 straight (7-2-1 ATS) with Kentucky coming in off its lone loss of the season.

College Basketball Handicapping: Kentucky Not Worthy of No. 1 Ranking
by Robert Ferringo - 1/26/2010

Right now Kentucky reminds me of a little kid trying on his dad’s clothes and shoes as kind of a joke. As of Monday the Wildcats were the No. 1 team in the country in college basketball. I have been banging against the Kentucky bandwagon all season long and I’m hear to tell you once again that they aren’t the best team in the country. Not even close. They are good. They are better than I thought they would be.

Syracuse Stacks Up Well With Classic Florida Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 1/26/2010

Obviously, I’m feeling pretty good about Syracuse right now. I think that they are the best team in the country right now and that’s coming from a guy that is always quick to take a pessimistic stance on his alma mater. The reason that I think that they are the best team and, right now, the favorite to win the National Championship, is that I think that they have every single aspect covered that a championship team needs.

College Basketball Betting: Weekday Primer
by Matt Severance - 1/25/2010

Hard to believe it’s the last week in January, which means it’s really time to start focusing your betting attention on college basketball -- except for Super Sunday, of course. Here is a look at the best game to watch each night this week (as usual, not much worth watching on Friday). Check back Saturday for our Game of the Day preview.

Saturday College Basketball Betting: Duke at Clemson Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 1/22/2010

Every time Duke shows up in an opponent’s gym they have to know that the crowd will be louder and rowdier and the players will be hungrier and feistier than they are when anyone else comes to town. No matter where they go they are going to catch a team’s best game and they have to be ready to handle it at every turn.

College Basketball Handicapping: Struggling Programs
by T.O. Whenham - 1/22/2010

One of the trends that has emerged so far this year in college basketball is the underachievement of big-name programs. In some cases, teams that we have grown to expect consistent excellence from have struggled. In others, teams that came into the season with high hopes have found ways of disappointing us during the season. Here's a look at three teams that fit into each category, and what that means from a betting perspective:

Saturday College Basketball Preview: Texas at Connecticut
by Matt Severance - 1/21/2010

UConn seemed to fix a lot that was wrong during the skid, as it made 6-of-14 three-pointers after hitting only 6-of-28 during the three-game losing streak as well as 11-of-12 free throws after shooting just 59 percent from the line during the previous three games. UConn made 56.9 percent of its shots overall and 65.4 percent in the second half. Interim coach George Blaney started a three-guard lineup against the Red Storm and may again Saturday – Blaney is 5-3 in games in which he has subbed for Calhoun.

NCAA Hoops Betting: Under the Radar
by Christopher G. Shepard - 1/21/2010

While public teams like Syracuse 18-1 SU (+870 ATS) and Villanova 17-1 SU (+860 ATS) are among the best cashing teams in NCAA basketball, in my opinion it is the non-public teams with losing records that bring more value for your sports investment V-Chips and this week I have uncovered a few such teams that meet this criteria.

College Basketball Betting: Weekday Primer
by Matt Severance - 1/18/2010

You know the drill: Here are the best games to watch or bet on each night during the week of Jan. 18, but again nothing worthwhile on Friday night -- so go see your local high school team that night! I’ll be back with a Game of the Day preview for Saturday’s action.

College Basketball Handicapping: Mississippi at Tennessee Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 1/15/2010

The Tennessee Volunteers entered the season as a Final Four sleeper and through December, in my opinion, they were casting the largest shadow in the SEC. But, as I’m sure you’ve heard (and if you haven’t, politely move along), that’s when half of the Vols roster started acting out their own scene from “The Wire”. But instead of earning Emmy’s, the four players – Tyler Smith, Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams and Melvin Goins – left the Vols with an empty bench and almost no shot at postseason glory.

Saturday NCAA Game of the Day: Syracuse at West Virginia
by Matt Severance - 1/15/2010

Well, hopefully we’ve found something here with the Saturday NCAA Game of the Day feature, as I recommended taking Wisconsin last week against Purdue – and of course the Badgers knocked the Boilermakers from the ranks of the unbeaten. Honestly, I rarely will recommend a total because I think those are too unpredictable (and those bets account for maybe 10 percent of a book’s action), but let’s make it 2-0 this week on the side.

NCAA Hoops Betting: Under the Radar
by Christopher G. Shepard - 1/14/2010

While the debate rages on about which team should be the No. 1 team in men’s college basketball the No. 1 team for sports bettors is obvious: St. Mary’s. The Gaels lead all schools as a top cash earner with +980 return for bettors on the season but they are not the only mid-major team to fly under the radar with consistent cashes.

College Basketball Handicapping: Injuries Not Always Cut and Dry
by Robert Ferringo - 1/12/2010

Injuries to key players in sports aren’t always what they seem. In NBA it’s been a widely held maxim to always bet on a team that just lost its best player to injury. (Milwaukee covered at Phoenix this week right after losing Michael Redd for the season. That’s just the latest in a long line of examples.) And if you’ve been following the rise of the Volunteers over the last week it would appear that it holds up in college hoops as well.

College Basketball Betting: Weekday Primer
by Matt Severance - 1/11/2010

Here is our look at the best games to watch each night this week (Friday, as usual, is a weak night, so go see a movie that night), and I’ll have a weekend Game of the Day story coming Friday – hopefully you took my betting advice on last weekend’s spotlight game: Wisconsin upsetting Purdue.

College Basketball Betting: Connecticut at Georgetown Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 1/8/2010

If you threw the numbers "13" and "12" at me in regards to Connecticut and Georgetown basketball this year my Jeopardy-style response would have been, "What is the number of losses that each team has this year?" Nope. The numbers "13" and "12" are the respective rankings for the Huskies and the Hoyas as they enter their marquee matchup at noon on Saturday at Georgetown. Somehow these two teams, despite significant personnel losses in the offseason, have managed to work their way into the Top 15.

College Basketball Betting: Purdue at Wisconsin Preview
by Matt Severance - 1/8/2010

When choosing the game of the day in college basketball on Saturday, it really came down to three matchups that featured two Top 25 teams: No. 4 Purdue at No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 5 Duke at No. 17 Georgia Tech or No. 13 Connecticut at No. 12 Georgetown.

College Basketball Totals Betting
by T.O. Whenham - 1/7/2010

We are well into college basketball conference play now, so teams have played more than enough games for us to get a sense of what they really are and how we should be dealing with them. Here's a look at 10 teams that have proven themselves trustworthy on totals so far this year - the ones that most consistently stay ‘under’ or go ‘over’.

NCAA Hoops Betting: Under the Radar
by Christopher G. Shepard - 1/7/2010

As the NCAA nightly basketball lottery teaches us this New Year has not been a good time to back marquee favorites like UNC, Texas, and Boston College. Looking below the radar you would have seen Charleston, Arkansas, and Maine as three teams with little chance of covering the spread, but they did and that is why sports investing is a challenge.

College Basketball Handicapping: How to Deal With USC Death Sentence
by Robert Ferringo - 1/6/2010

On Sunday, USC’s administration announced that they were going to self-impose sanctions on the basketball program. The deathblow: no postseason appearances for the Trojans this year. USC will not play in the Pac-10 Tournament and they will not accept an invitation to any postseason tournament.

College Basketball Betting: Weekday Primer
by Matt Severance - 1/4/2010

This is our first installment of the NCAA basketball weekday primer – sort of the big games or storylines to watch each day this week when deciding on those potential bets. Check back for a weekend primer.