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College Basketball Picks

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College basketball picks for the 2025/26 season. Get college basketball expert picks against the spread and totals for the best matchups throughout college basketball every day. We also have you covered for the best action throughout March Madness 2026. Check out our College Basketball Best Bets for our top plays on today’s games.

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6:09 PM ET

Sat Apr 4

TBS

Illinois

Connecticut

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Point Spread PickBest Bet

Illinois -2.0(-115)

Reasoning

We’ve come to the Final Four, and the first matchup features the Connecticut Huskies vs the Illinois Fighting Illini. Illinois came out of the South, benefiting from Iowa dispatching top-seeded Florida. Over in the East, UConn had to do the dirty work themselves, mounting an improbable comeback to oust Duke at the buzzer. UConn has become a team that is hard to bet against, but Hurley and his antics have also made them a tournament villain for many fans. All that aside, I do like Illinois in this matchup, and as long as this spread stays close, I am happy to grab it. Be careful here though, because this game is likely to stay tight, and we don’t want to risk the dreaded win-no-cover if we can avoid it.

Why will Illinois win? Here are several factors. First, they have the #1 offense in the country in terms of efficiency, and they have only gotten better as the season has gone along. UConn has an elite defense, but offense tends to win out at this stage. Second, UConn is great at keeping teams out of transition, but Illinois doesn’t care about that. They seem to prefer to play in halfcourt sets anyway. Third, Illinois is the #3 offensive rebounding team in the nation, and that tends to put defenses in a terrible position. Finally, Illinois is the best team in the country at keeping opponents off the foul line, while Connecticut is one of the worst at getting to the line. That means every point for the Huskies is likely to be a grind.

You might note that these teams played early in the season, and the Huskies won by 13. Don’t make too much of that game because lots of things have changed since then, and teams are doing almost nothing that they were doing 5 months ago. The Illinois offense has taken off since then, and this game should go very differently. Give me Illinois to cover this game at -2, but let’s not push for a multi-possession victory too aggressively here.

UConn vs Illinois prediction: Illinois Fighting Illini -2 (-115) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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The Home Of Free College Basketball Expert Picks For The 2025/26 Season

College basketball picks for the 2025/26 season. Our experts crunch the numbers, betting trends, injury reports, and much more to produce the best free college basketball picks and every day throughout the season and into March Madness itself.

Unlike many places, here at Pickswise, we have you covered all season long, whether it’s non-conference play, conference play, championship week, or March Madness, our NCAA basketball picks have you covered. Our College Basketball picks include a pick against the spread as well as on the points totals market, and both come with expert analysis and the key stats and trends. Check out our free college basketball picks today, and get all the latest College Basketball Odds.

Free College Basketball Picks Explained

With 353 Division I college basketball teams there are plenty of opportunities to find good value college basketball picks. With so many games played each day it is impossible for sportsbooks to get the lines correct for every single match. As sports bettors, this gives us a great opportunity to research the games, and find those edges to better serve our chances of long-term wagering success. That’s precisely what we do here at Pickswise. Our dedicated college basketball team covers every morsel of NCAAB action, leaving no stone unturned in the search for the best value picks for the top CBB action, and NCAA Basketball Futures, all of which are accompanied with full analysis, for free, only here at Pickswise.

Free College Basketball Picks Against The Spread (ATS)

One of the more popular college basketball wagers is betting against the spread (ATS). Against the spread betting isn’t just picking a winner of the basketball game, it’s about picking the team who will win by a set margin, known as covering the spread.

Let’s say you bet your money that Team A covers the spread (wins by a certain amount of points), Duke -6.5 for example. Or that Team B will cover the spread (keep the game closer than oddsmakers expect), Kentucky +6.5. If Duke beat Kentucky 64-60, then Kentucky would cover the spread, and underdog backers will cash their tickets on Kentucky +6.5 points.

The disparity is a big thing in many college basketball matchups and as such Moneyline betting will often see small odds about a favorite. Betting against the spread is very common, for this reason. It allows bettors to wager on the big favorites, who are expected to win, at better odds, but also the opportunity to bet the underdog. These are the main reasons why college basketball against the spread betting is so popular, but it is also one of our most popular college basketball picks on Pickswise. This is because knowing when an underdog might keep a game close or when potentially evenly matched teams might have blowout is very hard to predict without all the research, expertise, analysis and data our team has at its disposal.

Free College Basketball Totals Picks (Over/Under)

The other main NCAAB wager is the totals which are simply betting over or under a set number of points in a game. This market is seen to be one of the easier markets to beat the book if you can get to grips with some of the most important statistics which contribute to how many points will be scored in a ball game.

Some of the most important factors to consider when handicapping totals in basketball are the number of possessions per team in a game and the pace of play. Our experts at Pickswise consider these key angles as well as matchups, injuries, and betting trends to determine which side of the line has the best chance of hitting, and we have a strong record of getting this right.

CBB Picks

All of our CBB picks are posted right here on the college basketball picks page, all season long. Our experts post their top CBB picks, along with a detailed analysis including the key stats and matchups ahead of that game. Our CBB picks include a pick on the money line, spread, and totals for every match we cover, check them out today. we also have reliable College Basketball Predictions daily throughout the season.

College Basketball Parlay Picks

With so many games available to bet on there’s always great potential for College Basketball Parlays. You could make it a multi-game pick combining different money line or against the spread bets or you might want to get creative with other bet types within a single game parlay. Remember when you parlay you need all included bets to win to cash your wager, but with all those odds multiplied it can be very lucrative.

The statistical method for NCAA Basketball Picks

Just like pro sport teams, the college basketball teams that have success often take a very statistical approach to their decision making, so why wouldn’t you do the same for your bets on them?

At Pickswise we don’t believe in chance bets, our expert team comb through all the data, do all the analysis and provide all their research so you can have confidence in our College basketball picks.

Andrew Wilsher, Pickswise Managing Editor

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