NCAA Basketball Underdog Picks: Saturday, January 19th

Disclaimer: I hate betting favorites and love finding value in the underdogs for my NCAA basketball picks. This recurring series is going to be dedicated to finding those diamond in the rough NCAA basketball picks (money lines mostly) that pay a nice return but come with heavy risk. I mean, who wants to bet on the favorite anyways?

After a few quiet days for any NCAA underdog lines with real value, we are back in action with a massive slate of Saturday games. For your convenience, I’ve narrowed down all the games to the 3 money line dogs with the best value.

NCAA Basketball Picks – Saturday, January 19th

Florida Gators @ Georgia Bulldogs – 12pm ET

The Florida Gators head to Athens, Georgia to face down the Bulldogs in a showdown of two well-rounded SEC squads.

Coming off a rough loss to Kentucky, Georgia looks to get back on track as the underdog at home. Despite starting out hot and hanging with Kentucky the first half, Kentucky showed why they are one of the best teams in the nation this year as they switched to another gear after halftime and left Georgia in the dust. On a night where Kentucky plays as well as they did against Georgia, there are few teams in the nation that could even hang with, much less beat the Wildcats. However, Georgia did look great early on in large part due to their relentless attack on the boards. Georgia isn’t a team that is going to threaten anyone with their shooting, but they will attack the basket hard and outwork you for rebounds.

Florida comes into Georgia on the heels of two straight losses of their own. Where Georgia plays at a fast and physical pace, the Gators like to slow things down a bit more. The Gators find the most success when they can sit back and rely on a stingy team defense that helps lead to points off turnovers. Florida doesn’t offer the same size and physicality on the interior that the Bulldogs bring to the matchup, but they are a scrappy bunch and shoot the ball at a better clip from deep.

Both teams have even records on the season and in conference play, both teams are coming off consecutive losses to some of the best programs the SEC has to offer. However, Florida is just 2-4 on the road this year, while Georgia gets the benefit of playing at home where they are 7-3 on the season. Expect this to be a hard-fought and physical battle between two teams that are looking to get back on track. In a matchup like this, give me the home team with the more physical interior game 10 times out of 10. Don’t let the Kentucky blowout fool you, this Georgia team is the real deal.

Pick: Georgia Bulldogs +170

Pittsburgh Panthers @ Syracuse Orange – 2pm ET

Like our first underdog matchup, Pitt and Syracuse share a lot of similarities heading into their early afternoon matchup. Both teams sit at 12-5 and are coming off big-time wins as the underdog.

Pitt heads into the matchup at the Carrier Dome as the underdog squad. However, coming off a big time win against Florida State, the Panthers have been playing with a massive chip on their shoulder. Despite being tabbed as major underdogs on multiple occasions, the Panthers are nearly a .500 basketball team when labeled as the inferior squad. Pitt offers a dynamic scoring duo in Freshman guards Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowans, however, the extraordinary play of Sophomore big man Terrell Brown has been equally crucial to their success on the year.

Syracuse is coming off one of their biggest regular season wins in quite some time. As a heavy underdog (who yours truly predicted), they took down the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils on the road. The Syracuse zone stifled the banged up Blue Devils who simply could not find their shot on the evening. Although Duke was down floor-spacing wing Cam Reddish and dynamic point guard Tre Jones, the win is still impressive for Syracuse and should by no means come with an asterisk. Syracuse got huge nights from a variety of role players and executed a near perfect game-plan from start to finish (something one needs to do to even beat a banged up Duke squad).

Despite riding high off the road victory at Cameron Indoor, I can’t help but feel that Syracuse might be overlooking this game. After taking down what is widely considered one of the best collections of talent since Kentucky nearly ran the table, Syracuse may rightfully be looking over a perennially underrated Pitt squad. Although the Syracuse zone will make life difficult on Pitt, Pitt offers a dangerous defense of their own in what should be a tight and ugly affair. Look for Pitt to continue their run and give Syracuse a reality check.

More from FanSided

Pick: Pittsbugh Panthers +280

St. John’s Red Storm @ Butler Bulldogs – 4:30pm ET

St. John’s heads to Butler to take on the Bulldogs in a Big East late-afternoon showdown.

St. John’s is back baby! Despite struggling the first few years since Chris Mullin took the reigns, St. Johns has had a renaissance this season and returned to their old ways from the 80’s and 90’s. The Red Storm are a very solid 15-3 this year with a knack for picking up ugly wins. Even at nights when St. John’s isn’t at their best, they find a way to grind out most games and pick up the win. As the underdog on the road in this matchup, St. John’s is far from in unfamiliar territory. One of the better road teams in the nation, St. John’s has a great record of 5-2 away from their home court.

Butler on the other hand has dropped 4 of their last 6 games and comes into the matchup desperately looking for a win. Despite their last two losses being by a combined 2 points, the Bulldogs have shown an inability to close out close games this year and have struggled against battle-tested opponents. St. John’s provides them with an EXTREMELY battle-tested foe and if Butler wants to be able to avoid dropping a game they are favored at home, they are going to need a monster performance from star Kamar Baldwin. Baldwin is the team leader (or tied) in every single major category for the Bulldogs. However, the human swiss-army knife is going to need a bit of help from his supporting cast to take down this deep and resurgent Red Storm squad.

St. John’s has shown their ability to not only compete with, but beat some of the best teams in the nation night-in, night-out. Butler on the other hand is a program that is struggling mightily as of recent and trying to find their footing. Despite a strong start, Butler has struggled in conference play and that should continue against a better St. John’s squad. Look for a massive performance from Baldwin that comes up just short as St. John’s wins another close and hard-fought game.

Pick: St. John’s Red Storm +185

Next. NBA DFS Picks and Pivots - Saturday, January 19. dark

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest DFS news and fantasy sports analysis each and every day!