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Daily Dunk: Best College Basketball Bets Today (Longhorns Will Roll)

Breaking down the two best college basketball bets to wager on for New Years Day action including a game involving the Texas Longhorns.

By Iain MacMillan

Dec 29, 2023; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Dillon Mitchell (23) dunks during the
Dec 29, 2023; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Dillon Mitchell (23) dunks during the / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
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Today is a big day in the college football world, but let's not forget there are a couple of intriguing college basketball games we can bet on as well. Two of which are featuring a couple of the best teams that the state of Texas has to offer.

I have bets locked in for those two games that I'm about to break down. Let's start our 2024 betting season off with a bang!

If you want to join me in these plays, be sure to place your bets at FanDuel Sportsbook. For a limited time, new users will receive $150 in bonus bets when they place their first $5 wager! All you have to do to take advantage of this offer is click the link below to sign up for an account!

Bet on college basketball at FanDuel today!

Best College Basketball Bets Today

  • Texas -18.5 vs. Texas-Arlington
  • Texas Tech -17.5 vs. North Alabama

Texas-Arlington vs. Texas prediction

Turnovers could be the difference maker in this battle between two Texas schools. When I'm looking at a complete mismatch of a game, I usually take a peak at how often the underdog coughs the ball up. If they do a good job of taking care of it, they have a better chance of keeping the game within the given spread.

Unfortunately, Arlington doesn't do that. In fact, they rank 355th in the country in turnovers per possession, coughing it up 21.9% of the time. Now, they face a Longhorns team that's inside the top 100 in forcing turnovers. That's not a good recipe for an 18.5-point underdog.

I'll lay the big spread with the Longhorns.

North Alabama vs. Texas Tech prediction

Call me square all you want, but I'm also going to back the favorites in this showdown between North Alabama and Texas Tech. Defense will likely be the key for Texas Tech to pull away with the big win. They rank 46th in defensive efficiency while North Alabama ranks just 207th.

Also keep an eye on Texas Tech getting its three ball going. 43.3% of the Red Raiders' shots come from three-point range, which is inside the top 50 for 3-point shot percentage in the country. Now, they'll take on a North Alabama squad that struggles on the perimeter, ranking 282nd in opponent 3-point field goal percentage (35.3%).

Give me Texas Tech to win big.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

You can check out all of Iain's bets here!

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