Betting Court, January 11th Men's Basketball
Saturday’s are exciting enough for college basketball fans, but there is a way to make a fun Saturday even more interesting. Even if your favorite team is not playing, a little wager can make you live and die with every shot. Each week College Sports Madness’ Dan Levine takes a look at the picks of the day heading into the weekend action.
Gambling sharps are right roughly 57% of the time and the Betting Court will aim to reach that mark. But we’re not sharps. Our lines come from Sports Betting Dime and we’ll keep track of how we do each and every week.
Oklahoma State (-5) at West Virginia
PICK: Oklahoma State
West Virginia always fields a scrappy team that can give opponents defensive fits. This season, they have been adept at scoring (81 points per game), but they also have not won games against superior competition all season. The Mountaineers lost to an average Purdue team just three games ago. The Cowboys and Marcus Smart are coming to town. The matchups do not get any easier. The Mountaineers are 2-0 in conference play, but their opponents were Texas Tech and TCU. Oklahoma State is one of the better teams in the country with a lot of dynamic players. They should be able to run it up and down on West Virginia. I like Oklahoma State to cover. They are so gifted offensively, they should outscore the Mountaineers.
California at Oregon State (+1.5)
PICK: Oregon State
Oregon State never has the best basketball team in the Pac-12. They usually take up a bottom seed line in the conference tournament. All the same, the Beavers can be a tough out for Pac-12 opponents. They are one of the top shooting teams in the country (49.7 percent). Against California, they will have to play well, but the Bears are not vastly superior. If the Bears hit a cold spell, Oregon State can make a run. They just beat Stanford convincingly. They could use a mini-run heading into the game against Oregon. The Beavers have also lost only one home game up until this point. With such a low point spread, I like the home team getting the points.
Indiana (-1.5) at Penn State
PICK: Indiana
I realize Indiana lost a whole bunch of talent after last season, but 1.5 points against Penn State feels a little insulting. This certainly is not the same team. Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo are no longer there to lift the team. They are still long underneath the basket, and get great guard play from Yogi Ferrell. Penn State could use a win against Indiana to gain some momentum going further into conference season. But they are sliding right now, having just lost to Minnesota at home. Plus, if this game gets close at the end, I’m putting my money on Tom Crean to coach his team up and walk away victorious. Indiana by at least four.
Virginia at North Carolina State (+2)
PICK: NC State
Virginia was picked to finish in the top three of the ACC the season. They return a lot of players and they have a legitimate talent in Joe Harris, who will be named to the All-ACC team. It remains to be seen where they will finish, but up to this point they have not wowed anyone with their play. They have a lot of trouble scoring. At just 65.2 points per game, they are the second lowest scoring team in the ACC. Against NC State, Virginia could have some trouble keeping up with the likes of T.J. Warren, fourth leading scorer in the conference. NC State is tough at home. Virginia’s defense is not that great. I love NC State getting two at home.
