Mixed into the college football, EPL, and NBA madness on Saturday is a massive college basketball card headlined by high-profile matchups like Alabama vs. St. John’s, Arkansas vs. Michigan State, and Oklahoma vs. Gonzaga. There are even multiple compelling mid-major contests on the docket, including Princeton vs. Akron, Marshall vs. Toledo, and College of Charleston vs. Florida Atlantic – just to name a few.
It’s very early in the season, and while some don’t tune into college basketball until at least football is over, we’ve been locked in right from the jump earlier this week. That being said, here are a few of my favorite bets for Saturday’s college hoops action, and don’t forget to check out our NCAAB predictions for all of the biggest games every day throughout the season.
CBB Best Bet: Alabama vs St. John’s Over 171.5 (-105)
Odds courtesy of BetMGM at the time of publishing. Playable to 173.5.
Points, points, and more points – that’s what I expect when the Alabama Crimson Tide and the St. John’s Red Storm meet at Madison Square Garden to lead off Saturday’s college basketball action. Typically, MSG is a house of unders when it comes to neutral-site college hoops, but there is just no way I would want to invest in an under between these programs.
Under Nate Oats, Alabama has played at one of the highest paces in the country. In fact, the Tide have ranked no lower than 14th in KenPom’s adjusted tempo since Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa, and that’s simply not going to change this year. Similarly, the Johnnies have played with plenty of tempo themselves under Rick Pitino. They haven’t played quite as fast as Alabama, but under Pitino, the Johnnies have steadily played faster and faster each year – including their hot start on Monday.
More often than not over the last couple of years, Alabama’s games against top-100 tempo teams have surpassed this number. Expect much of the same on Saturday. This should be a fun, up-and-down affair that resembles an NBA game in the home of the New York Knicks.
CBB Best Bet: Virginia Tech Hokies ML over Providence Friars (-110)
Odds courtesy of BetMGM at the time of publishing. Playable to -125 or to -2 on the spread.
Virginia Tech’s roster was injected with talent in the offseason and should be much better than last year’s 13-19 result. Coach Mike Young added PG Izaiah Pasha (Delaware) as part of VT’s offseason upgrade, providing the Hokies with a bonafide floor general to facilitate an array of shooters – namely the international freshman phenom Neoklis Avdalas. The highly-regarded international spent 2 seasons competing in Greece’s top-tier HEBA A1 league and ranks as the 2nd-best incoming international in college basketball. Coach Young also brought in Amani Hansberry to shore up the interior on both ends of the floor, as well as on the boards.
I see Kim English’s vision with this roster. Providence prefers to be a defensive force with a very physical mentality. That’s fine, but it might handicap the Friars in certain games, including this one. Outside of newcomers Jason Edwards and Jaylin Sellers, I don’t love Providence offensively. Given how good Virginia Tech’s shooting looks on paper, the Friars are going to have to consistently hit shots in order to have a chance to win this game – which is not something English’s teams have been known for in the past. I like the Hokies here.
CBB Best Bet: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels -4.5 over Chattanooga Mocs (-115)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sporsbook at the time of publishing. Playable to -6.
UNLV dropped their season opener to Tennessee Martin 86-81 at home on Monday, and while I expect the Rebels to bounce back on Saturday with a better shooting performance, this is more of a fade of Chattanooga than a bet on UNLV. The Mocs will be playing this game on the tail end of a very rare back-to-back in college basketball, as they played at Saint Mary’s on Friday night. If you follow college hoops at all, you know Saint Mary’s is a team that will grind you down with an extremely slow, physical play style. After what figures to be a 40-minute slog, the Mocs will then have to make the quick trip to UNLV to play the Rebels without rest. That’s tough. I may be more interested if Chattanooga still had Trey Bonham, Honor Huff, and Frank Champion, but all those guys are gone. Meanwhile, UNLV figures to be hungry to prove that Monday’s loss to UT Martin was just a fluke.
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