College Basketball Best Bets for Today, January 20th
By Reed Wallach
The tides are turning. A 3-1 Tuesday followed up by a 4-0 sweep on the Wednesday card (blame it being my day off) and the Best Bets column is starting to look a bit better.
As always you can check out my plays in real time on here across all the sports I bet, but to start here are three plays for me on an interesting Thursday slate.
All odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook
Column Record 17-23-3 (-6.2 Units)
Chattanooga (-3.5) vs. North Carolina-Greensboro
The Mocs are one of the best mid-major teams nobody is talking about, paced by the 33rd best offense per KenPom.
Malachi Smith will be the best player on the floor, the 6'4" guard is posting a sterling 127.5 offensive rating this season and the Chattanooga front court should generate enough second chances to outpace the Spartans.
Both teams are outside the top 300 in average offensive possession length, so expect a grind, but this Greensboro offense is terrible at protecting the rock and generating efficient looks, placing 247th in effective field goal percentage. The Mocs have the more consistent offense to cover on the road.
Keep in mind that the veteran visitors have lsot six of eight to UNCG, but this Spartans team is not the same as it's been in the past under first year head coach Mike Jones. I expect Chattanooga to keep on rolling.
PICK: Chattanooga -3.5, play to -4
USC (-2) vs. Colorado
You can check out my full game preview here, but this is a strong buy low spot on the Trojans against a fraudulent Colorado team.
The Buffs have lost to all three teams inside of KenPom's top 20 by a combined 16 points. While USC is 26th, I believe they still qualify as elite competition. USC has the length inside to shutdown Colorado's interior offense and the Trojans should get some positive three-point regression on defense after PAC-12 foes have gashed them for north of 41% in league play, worst in the conference.
Buy the dip on USC and count on them to get the job done on the road.
PICK: USC -2, play to -2.5
Utah State (-1) vs. Boise State
It feels like Utah State is ripe for a win. The team has lost to three straight KenPom top 60 Mountain West foes by a combined 12 points (how good is the MWC this season?), and now welcome Boise State in a must win situation.
This has been a year from hell for Utah State due to injuries and some bad breaks, but there is a ton of regression coming their way. The team shot north of 35% from three in non conference play but is hitting on just 18% of them in MWC play.
Further, opponents are hitting nearly 39% of their three-point tries in conference games, can they catch a break?
Boise is also ripe for a poor shooting game, shooting 4% better in conference play. The Broncos haven't lost since November and this is a tough spot for them, playing their third game since Saturday with San Diego State on deck as well.
I expect the Aggies best effort and a win at home.
PICK: Utah State -1, play to -1.5