Daily Dunk: Best College Basketball Bets Today (How to Bet Arizona vs. UCLA)
We're already in the midst of conference tournament action in some mid majors across the country and the major conferences are set to begin their tournaments in just a few days. Buckle up folks, we're entering one of the best stretches of the sports betting calendar!
We have a great slate of games, including a handful in the Pac-12, to watch and wager on tonight, so let's dive into my top three picks.
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College basketball best bets today
- Cleveland State vs. Youngstown State UNDER 151.5
- Washington State -6.5 vs. Washington
- Arizona -9.5 vs. UCLA
Cleveland State vs. Youngstown State prediction
We're looking at the total for this Horizon League Tournament game and I'm taking the UNDER 151.5. The main reason I think this could be a low-scoring affair is both team's defensive strengths line up with what the other team does offensively.
Youngstown State ranks 61st in the country in 3-point shot rate while Cleveland State ranks 38th in opponent 3-point field goal percentage, keeping teams to shooting just 31.1% from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Cleveland State ranks 58th in two-point shot rate and Youngstown State ranks 74th opponent 2-point field goal percentage, keeping teams to shooting 47.9% from the interior.
Finally, both teams overall rank in the bottom half of the country in effective field goal percentage so I think this total is a couple of points too high tonight.
Washington vs. Washington State prediction
Tonight's game between Washington and Washington State is a game between two teams who are far superior when playing on their home court compared to at home, therefore I'll lay the points with the Cougars tonight.
For example, the Huskies' effective field goal percentage drops a whopping 9.2% when playing on the road compared to at home. I have no interest in betting on them when playing on the road like they are tonight.
I'll back the Cougars, who continue to be one of the most underrated teams in the country.
Arizona vs. UCLA prediction
UCLA does a lot of good things defensively, but I simply can't bet on a team that is as bad at shooting as the Bruins are. They rank 333rd in college basketball in effective field goal percentage and they're one of the rare teams that shoot worse at home compared to on the road.
Meanwhile, Arizona comes into the game ranking 19th in the country in effective field goal percentage. That gap is too wide for this to be a single-digit spread. I'll lay the points with the Wildcats.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
You can check out all of Iain's bets here!