Daily Dunk: Best College Basketball Bets Today (Best Bet for UConn vs. Creighton)

We are treated to a handful of high-level conference games on Tuesday, but all eyes will be fixated on UConn and Creighton.

The Huskies have made the biggest statement to date, demolishing Marquette over the weekend at home, but will the team follow it up on the road against a surging Creighton team? I'm eyeing the total in the Big East matchup on Tuesday while also playing two other home teams in conference play.

Here's my three favorite plays on a loaded Tuesday night college hoops card:

New BetMGM users, sign up below to get $150 in bonus bets as soon as you make a first bet of just $5!

Season Long Record: 113-86-5 (+20.88U)

Best College Basketball Bets for Tuesday, February 20th

• Boston College vs. Florida State (-3.5)
• UConn vs. Creighton UNDER 145.5
• Baylor vs. BYU (-4)

I'm going to back the home favorite Seminoles on Tuesday in what's a bad matchup for Boston College. FSU won the first meeting between these two teams in Chestnut Hill 63-62 as three-and-a-half point road underdogs, but I think Leonard Hamilton's bunch can get margin and win by multiple possessions.

BC has struggled with active defenses in ACC play. FSU is second in the ACC turnover rate on defense and trails only Syracuse in that metric, according to KenPom, who beat the Eagles by 10 and lost by five in the second meeting (a game that ShotQuality graded a clear Syracuse victory).

Now, BC hits the road where I envision the team will struggle to handle FSU's relentless ball pressure yet again. Against Syracuse, Boston College had more than 20 turnovers in each game, and against Florida State, the team had 15. Further, the Seminoles are elite at jumpstarting its fast breakoff of steals, 10th in Haslametrics potential quick points off breakaway steals per 100 possessions.

In conference play, the recipe for winning in Tallahassee has been disciplined offensive groups. Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, and Duke were all able to secure road victories, but those teams are all top half of the league in limiting turnovers. BC doesn't have that same luxury and will struggle to keep up on the road.

PICK: Florida State -3.5

UConn vs. Creighton Prediction and Pick

Back on January 17th, UConn suffocated Creighton into a 62-48 win, covering the modest spread and going under the total of 145.5. Now, the stage is set for a rematch between a Creighton team that has seemingly recovered from a mid-season swoon, winners of three straight, including two on the road against Xavier and Butler.

I'm more interested in the total between these two teams. Again, the first matchup featured just 110 points, and while this total is depressed a bit more, there is still room to go between two teams that allow nothing at the rim.

Clingan and Kalkbrenner are as good as you'll see at protecting the rim this season, each top 25 in the country in field goal percentage allowed at the cup, which makes me believe that this game will feature a ton of contested jumpers. Both teams are top 60 in the country in terms of limiting catch-and-shoot three's, per ShotQuality.

Further, both teams are fairly slow. UConn doesn't try to run whatsoever, bottom 40 in the country in terms of pace according to Haslametrics, while Creighton is outside the top 200 nationally.

I'll go back to the well with the under between these two elite defenses.

PICK: UNDER 145.5

Baylor vs. BYU Prediction and Pick

Baylor handed BYU a loss early in Big 12, the Cougars' first road game in its new league. While the Cougars have come down to Earth after a sterling nonconference run, I do believe this matchup sets up nicely for the home team to get back on track.

First, Baylor is making a tough road trip after playing on Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia to play at altitude in Provo, Utah with only two days off. Not only that, but BYU's offense remains a unique prep for Big 12 opponents and has remained above average in the best conference in college basketball.

BYU is still tops in two-point field goal percentage, able to lift defenses away from the rim and generate easy buckets inside while taking more than half of its shots from beyond the arc (where the team is owed a two percent rise in conference play).

Baylor is also an elite offense, but the team has had some road woes this season, its only road wins coming against Big 12 bottom feeders Oklahoma State, UCF, and West Virginia, the three worst offenses in the conference.

While the Bears have stayed close in road losses against Kansas State, Texas, and Kansas, losing by no more than four points. I believe this is a great landing spot for BYU's defense to get back on track.

Baylor's offense doesn't focus a ton on creating isolation situations, whereas the slow-footed BYU perimeter defense has been exposed in Big 12 play. The Bears rank 332nd in points per possession in iso situations per ShotQuality on the 266th highest frequency. I don't see an explosive Bears offense traveling to Provo given the matchup.

I think we see BYU continue to hum on offense, the team did score 1.06 points per possession and shoot over 49% from the field but couldn't negate Baylor's +14 free throw attempts in the nine-point loss. This time around, I think Cougars win by a few buckets.

PICK: BYU -4

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Track Reed's bets here!