College Basketball Picks

As college basketball’s opening week continues, we get our first look at the Creighton Bluejays as they play host to the South Dakota Coyotes. For Creighton, this game aims to be the 500^th career win for head coach Greg McDermott, who opens the season at 499. The Coyotes have already played one game, an overtime loss to Utah Tech. Utah Tech, for what it is worth, is projected to be at the bottom of their conference, so it was not the best of starts for South Dakota. Still, I think this is a lot of points for Creighton’s opener, and I suspect South Dakota will cover, even if they don’t spoil McDermott’s party. Give me South Dakota +28.5.

The Bluejays will be reloading the roster this year. The top four scorers from last year’s team are gone, including 4-year start Ryan Kalkbrenner. Creighton did a lot of reloading in the portal though, including poaching Iowa guard Josh Dix, who is a great defender and a 40% shooter from deep. So what about the Coyotes? The biggest thing to know here is that this team likes to play fast. Fast, as in only Alabama played at a faster pace last year. The Coyotes are one of the better teams in the Summit League, and while they aren’t on Creighton’s level and should not upset them, they can keep this close-ish. South Dakota has already played a game while Creighton has not, which is an advantage to the Coyotes. Creighton is integrating a lot of transfers and sorting out rotations in a deep roster, plus the pace of South Dakota should lead to enough points to avoid a 30-point loss. I’ll take the points here.

South Dakota vs Creighton Prediction: South Dakota +28.5 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Evansville Purple Aces hop in the bus north on I-69 to Indianapolis, before jumping on I-65 up to West Lafayette. When the Ohio Valley Conference team arrives, it will find the top-ranked team in the nation awaiting them. Evansville lost 21 games last season, going 15-16 against the spread, while the under hit at an 18-13 pace. It made a similar trip last season, facing Ohio State of the Big Ten on Nov. 19, and it lost 80-30 as a 24.5-point underdog as the under cashed. In recent seasons, it has taken the Purple Aces quite a while to get started.

The Boilermakers will be neck-and-neck with Michigan at the top of the Big Ten this season, but first things first. It has these tune-up games to get into form. Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith are back, and that’s a lot of winning experience and leadership. That trio isn’t likely to break much of a sweat against the undersized and undermanned Purple Aces, and we should see the reserves play a lot in the second half, getting valuable hands-on experience. The concern here is that Purdue builds a giant lead, perhaps up to 40 points, before Evansville chips away to make it respectable, grabbing the backdoor cover.

Evansville vs Purdue prediction: Evansville +32.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +31.5.

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The Texas Longhorns and the Duke Blue Devils will face off on Tuesday night in Charlotte for a non-conference game. This non-conference showdown will be played on a neutral site at the Spectrum Center for the Dick Vitale Invitational. Duke forward Maliq Brown is questionable to play but is expected to suit up the Blue Devils season opener.

Duke is currently an 8.5-point favorite and the Blue Devils to cover that spread is my best bet of this game. The Blue Devils are playing in their home state, and the crowd should predominately be Duke fans living in Charlotte or making the drive over. Cooper Flagg is no longer on Duke’s roster, but they replaced him with another potential #1 NBA Draft pick in Cameron Boozer. Cameron followed in his Dad Carlos footsteps and should be the next one-and-done first round draft pick at Duke. Boozer was the #1 power forward and the #3 overall player in the 2026 class, according to 247 Sports.

The Blue Devils lost talent last offseason but bring back valuable returners like Patrick Ngongba, Maliq Brown, Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster. Their mix of retention and young talent should make them one of the best teams in the country. Texas is in a transition year after firing Rodney Terry and will likely need more time to figure things out. The Longhorns are ranked just #39 nationally at KenPom, compared to Duke’s #7 ranking. This is just too small of a number for a Duke team that has more young talent than Texas. Take Duke here to win and cover.

Texas vs Duke prediction: Duke -8.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 10.

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The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Oregon Ducks will tip it off late on Tuesday night, and we’ve got your prediction right here! After finishing last season 15-16, the Rainbow Warriors are hoping to be contenders in the Big West this year. Hawaii has some key players returning this season, Gythis Nemeiksa who averaged 12.3 ppg and 5.6 rebounds last season and Tanner Christensen who averaged 10.8 ppg and 6.9 rebounds. 

The Ducks finished 25-10 last season and made it to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to their former Pac-12 rival, Arizona, in the second round. Nate Bittle will return for the Ducks, a 7-foot center that averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last season. Guard Jackson Shelstad is also returning, who was second on this team in points per game with 13.7 last season. With two of the top players in the Big Ten back in the lineup, the Ducks are looking to make a statement this season. Despite Hawaii adding nine new players to its lineup to support Nemeiksa and Christensen, it’s still early for them to have everything ironed out. This renewed Warriors team may be able to make a run in the Big West, but learning how to play with a completely new team and traveling to the West Coast will be taxing on them. Look for the Ducks to make a statement on opening night, making them my best bet of the day. 

Hawaii vs Oregon prediction: Oregon -13 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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