College Basketball Handicapping Articles

NCAA Basketball Betting Advice: Biggest Weaknesses Top 10 Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/24/2017

As we near the end of the regular season in college basketball, these are interesting times. There are several really good teams, but none that have emerged as truly dominant - at least not against other elite teams. It's reasonably easy to make a case for any of the current Top 10 - or at least any but Baylor for me, because I just don't believe in them - to win it all. Every one has plenty of strengths and things going for them. They each also have weaknesses, though. The premise today is simple - we're going to look at the weakness that concerns me most about each of the top ten squads:

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 25 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/24/2017

Believe it or not, Saturday is the last full day of college basketball action this season. That's because most of the mid-major conferences conclude their regular seasons Saturday. The first conference tournament to tip-off is the Atlantic Sun on Monday. All those games are on campus sites of the higher-ranked team. The two schools to beat there are Florida Gulf Coast, a former NCAA Tournament darling, and Lipscomb - those two finished 1-2 and then there's quite a drop-off. There are crucial games all over the country in those small conferences Saturday to determine tiebreakers. Let March Madness begin!

NCAA Basketball Handicapping: UConn Women's Team
by Trevor Whenham - 2/24/2017

We almost never talk about women's college basketball in this space. The reasons are obvious - not many people watch it, and even fewer people bet on it. We give the people what they want, and that, for the most part, is not women's hoops. Every once in a while, though, something happens that is so ridiculously amazing that you have to discuss it whether it is a typical topic or not. And that is the case now with the UConn Huskies women's basketball team.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 23 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/22/2017

If you just put together a team of key injured players from power conferences this season, I'd probably take that club to win the national championship. The latest one hurt is Georgia's Yante Maten. He is out indefinitely with a knee injury. The 6-foot-8 junior is averaging 18.7 points and 6.9 rebounds. Maten was hurt as he defended a layup by Kentucky's Isaiah Briscoe less than two minutes into Saturday's loss. "Obviously he's been the most consistent player on our team, so we're going to have to probably look at some things for the rotation, obviously, and how we play to compensate for the fact that he's going to be out," UGA coach Mark Fox said.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 22 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/21/2017

I reference ESPN's Joe Lunardi a lot in this space when we get close to Selection Sunday, as we have. That guy knows his stuff with his bracketology projections. Here's something I never thought I would see: you can bet on how right Lunardi will be. That he correctly predicts all 68 teams is +700 at 5Dimes. Getting all four No. 1 seeds right, which seems fairly easy, is -290. It's +210 if he misses at least one. That Lunardi correctly projects all the four "at large" schools in the First Four is +1900. Right now he has Seton Hall, TCU, Georgia Tech as Marquette for those picks. There are a few other props on him. Go check them out.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 2/21/2017

Can you believe that some teams are playing their last game of the regular season this week? For most teams, there are still a few games left, but some conference tournaments tip off next week. The action is about to get even better. It's a great time of the year for college basketball fans.

Expert College Basketball Predictions: Weekly MAC Betting Report and Picks
by Chris Vasile - 2/21/2017

This past weekend's "MACtion" was pretty straightforward with very little surprises. Favorites went 4-2 against the spread, with the only notable outright loss being the Akron Zips losing at home to Kent State. To some, that result may be shocking, but to me it wasn't. The Zips' main focus is to stay healthy for the conference tournament, while Kent State is battling tooth and nail for positioning and a better chance at securing the MAC's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 21 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/20/2017

Crushing news for NCAA Tournament bubble team Michigan State as it has lost starting shooting guard Eron Harris for the season to knee surgery. In Saturday's loss at Purdue when he drove the baseline for a layup, Harris landed awkwardly and eventually was taken from the court on a stretcher. The senior, who transferred after two seasons at West Virginia, was averaging 10.7 points per game and led the team in 3-point shooting with 43 makes from beyond the arc.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 18 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/17/2017

Saturday's home game vs. No. 25 Notre Dame likely will be rather uncomfortable for NC State head coach Mark Gottfried as he was fired Thursday but will finish out the season. Gottfried asked to be allowed to do so out of loyalty to his players, so you have to respect that. He has an overall record of 122-82 at NC State, and he had three years left on his contract worth a total of $2.3 million. There's no way the Wolfpack should be 3-11 in the ACC with a mega-talent in freshman point guard Dennis Smith Jr., a sure-fire Top-5 pick in this year's NBA Draft.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 16 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/15/2017

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee says it takes a key player's injury status into consideration when determining a team's fate on getting into the Big Dance or what its seeding will be. So I'll be curious what happens to bubble team Virginia Tech now that one of its best players, Chris Clarke, is done for the season. He was hurt in Sunday's upset of Virginia, and early this week an MRI revealed a torn ACL in his left knee. Clarke is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.4 points per game, and leads the Hokies in rebounding at 7.3 per game. He also leads the team in steals with 30 and is second in assists with 79.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 15 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/14/2017

The University of Oklahoma - it always irritates me to see the Sooners' football helmets that say OU when it should obviously UO - has made the NCAA Tournament every year since 2013. Last year's club, led by Buddy Hield and Jordan Woodard, reached the Final Four. Any shot this year's struggling Sooners had of some sort of miracle run in the Big 12 Tournament to earn an NCAA berth probably vanished on Sunday when the school announced that Woodard is done for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.

NCAA Basketball Betting Advice: How to Wager on High-Profile Bubble Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/14/2017

The field for the NCAA Tournament is always quite different from year to year. With so many teams and relatively few spots, that's inevitable. There are those teams, though, that we always just assume will be in the bracket. This year there are several of those teams that are seemingly always in that find themselves perched squarely on the bubble right now. Some would be in and some would be out if the tournament would start today, but all have work left to do to lock down a spot. That means that they are highly-motivated teams - and bettors love motivated teams.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 14 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/13/2017

What did we learn from the NCAA Tournament selection committee's release of its current top four in each region on Saturday? I projected Gonzaga, Villanova, Kansas and Baylor would be the four No. 1s, and they were. I'm a tad surprised that the unbeaten Zags weren't the top overall seed as that went to the defending national champion Wildcats.

Expert College Basketball Predictions: Weekly MAC Betting Report and Picks
by Chris Vasile - 2/13/2017

There are six games left in the MAC regular season, and teams are starting to feel the effects of a rigorous campaign. To break down the MAC, you must first place the teams into three categories - good, inconsistent and bad. The only good team in the MAC is the Akron Zips. They own an 11-1 conference record. They are guaranteed a double-bye, and I really like their chances at getting an auto bid to the NCAA tournament by way of winning the MAC title.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 2/13/2017

It's already the middle of February, and we are a little less than three weeks away from the first conference tournaments tipping off. The March Madness action will be here before you know it. We'll try to make some money before it rolls around.

NCAA Basketball Handicapping: Gonzaga Unbeaten Record May be Bad Sign in NCAAs
by Trevor Whenham - 2/13/2017

The Gonzaga Bulldogs soundly dismantled St. Mary's for the second time this season on Saturday night to move to 26-0. The Gaels are their toughest conference rival by far, so the path is now set for the Bulldogs to run the table and be undefeated heading into the postseason. They are now the 11th team in the last 40 years to open with at least 26 wins.

2017 NCAA Tournament Field Projections and Predictions for March Madness
by Robert Ferringo - 2/10/2017

Selection Sunday is March 12, and the NCAA Tournament begins with the play-in games set for Tuesday, March 14, in Dayton. The first round begins on Thursday, March 16, and the Final Four will take place on April 1 in Phoenix. I know that "bubble speculation" is one of the most hyped up, annoying, and integral parts of the NCAA Tournament season. Speculating about who will make the field is a cottage industry (and the genesis of articles like this one). However, by my count the bubble field is pretty shallow right now.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 11 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/10/2017

A reminder that on Saturday, CBS will air the March Madness Bracket Preview show at 12:30 p.m. ET time, where the NCAA Tournament committee will unveil its top-four seeds in each region as things stand now. It's the first and last time this preview will take place this season. Selection Sunday is then 29 days from Saturday. My predictions for the top seeds in each region are Villanova in the East, Baylor in the South, Kansas in the Midwest and Gonzaga in the West. No huge surprises there and pretty much what every expert has. I think Baylor is the weakest of those four and won't finish as a top seed. Either the ACC or Pac-12 champion will take that one.

College Basketball Betting Advice: Under-the-Radar Teams that Could Make Noise in March
by Trevor Whenham - 2/10/2017

Now that football season is over, attention for many bettors starts to shift - at least somewhat - towards college basketball. And just in time - soon enough we'll be into conference tournaments and then the Big Dance. In anticipation of that great time of year, this is a good time to look beyond the high-profile teams and pick out some of the under-the-radar teams from smaller conferences that, if they make the field, could do some damage.

NCAA Basketball Expert Predictions: Three Interesting Feb. 9 Opening Lines
by Alan Matthews - 2/8/2017

Get ready for wall-to-wall promotions on ESPN for the next 24 hours or so - I'm sure they started a few days ago - as college basketball's best rivalry is renewed Thursday night for the first time this season when North Carolina visits Duke. The schools are just eight miles apart on Tobacco Road, with UNC the state's flagship public university and Duke a private school that's probably 85 percent comprised of rich kids from the Northeastern USA. I get tired of all the hype around the rivalry, but I always end up watching - some of the pranks between the student bodies are legendary -- and surely will Thursday.