College Basketball Handicapping Articles

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.

College Basketball Handicapping: Looking at Remaining Unbeatens
by Trevor Whenham - 1/6/2015

And then there were three. Unbeaten teams in college basketball, that is. It was a rough week for unbeaten teams, as two squads suffered their first losses. Villanova lost at Seton Hall in overtime, and Colorado State, who had benefited from an almost impossibly soft schedule, was stomped by New Mexico in The Pit. Now we are left with just three remaining teams with a shot at running the table — Kentucky, Duke and Virginia.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Tuesday
by Alan Matthews - 1/5/2015

Anytime that Kentucky plays this season, it's pretty much must-see TV because we could be witnessing one of the best teams in the modern era of college basketball. At this point, it would be a surprise of UK didn't enter the NCAA Tournament without a loss. Does Mississippi have any shot of the big upset Tuesday in Lexington? The Rebels' history against top-ranked teams would seem to say no. Here's a look at that matchup and two other intriguing ones with odds from BetOnline.

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

Friday is usually the worst night of college basketball action of the week with rarely a Top-25 team in action. It's all mid-major conferences and the full Ivy League schedule. So many weeks I won't do an opening line story for Friday, unless there are some unusually strong mid-major matchups, and instead examine Sunday's slate. However, there are a few ranked teams in action this Friday so let's take a look at three interesting opening lines from BetOnline.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Wednesday
by Alan Matthews - 12/30/2014

Solid schedule in college basketball on Wednesday with nine ranked teams in action. Enjoy it because Thursday the schedule is very weak as the NCAA largely has cleared the schedule for the biggest college football day of the season. Because of the New Year's Day holiday and light slate of games, there will be no opening line report for Thursday. So enjoy the bowl games! Here's a look at three interesting matchups for the final day of 2014.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 12/30/2014

With the start of the New Year this Thursday, the men’s college basketball season shifts into conference play with an eye towards regular season and tournament championships a few months down the road. The Big East decided to get a jump on things by scheduling five head-to-head conference matchups on New Year’s Eve starting at noon EST and running right into the New Year.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 12/30/2014

It's time for Week 3 if the Schedule Spot Fade Plays report. Because of the lightened holiday schedule, there were only two plays last week. The Schedule Spot Fade Plays went 1-1 in week two. The loser was the play on Georgia Tech +6. The fade of Dayton didn't work out in that game. As expected, Georgia Tech did control the boards, but Dayton's guards lit it up from deep, and Georgia Tech wasn't able to convert from the outside at all. The fade of UAB at North Carolina worked out nicely. UAB was dominated from the start as North Carolina jumped to an early 15-2 lead.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Tuesday
by Alan Matthews - 12/29/2014

I didn't include the Illinois-Michigan Big Ten opener among my three games to watch Tuesday, but it should be quite the atmosphere in Ann Arbor even though both teams are just OK. Ticket prices have skyrocketed for the game because it's expected that Jim Harbaugh will speak to the crowd at halftime after he's introduced at a press conference as Michigan's new football coach earlier Tuesday. The cheapest ticket on StubHub to get into Crisler Arena was $119.25 as of 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday, according to ESPN.

NCAA Basketball Betting 3-Point Play: Three Interesting Opening Lines Saturday
by Alan Matthews - 12/26/2014

With college basketball's conference schedule set to begin, welcome to the first NCAA 3-Point Play story here at Doc's. Every weekday, for the most part, I will provide you with opening lines on three next-day games of interest -- mostly involving ranked teams but not always -- and give you my recommendations. Now that the NFL regular season is over and the college football bowl season will be soon, it's really time to start focusing on college hoops through March Madness. Here are three choices for Saturday.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Schedule Spot Fade Picks
by Aaron Smith - 12/22/2014

Week 2 of the schedule spot fade plays is ready to go. There were four recommended plays on the first week of this article, but only three of the games were lined, so those are the three we have results form. It was 2-1 first week for the plays. Old Dominion was a fortunate cover to start the week last week. The fade of Clemson with the play on South Carolina worked very well as the Gamecocks rolled in that one. Oklahoma lost to Washington for the lone loser of last week's plays.

College Basketball Betting: Weekly Big East Handicapping Report
by Dave Schwab - 12/17/2014

The Big East has made its mark in the national rankings through the nonconference portion of the college basketball season with three teams in the latest AP Top 25. The 10-0 Villanova Wildcats continue to lead the way at No. 7, followed by 8-1 St. Johns at No. 20 and 8-2 Butler at No. 23.