College Basketball Best Bets for Opening Night: Including Florida vs Arizona and Villanova vs BYU

Ready or not, the college basketball season is back in full force with a gigantic slate of games on opening day – Monday, November 3. From an 8:00 am ET (yes 8:00 am!) tip-off between Queens and Winthrop, to an 11:00 pm ET tip off between Arkansas Pine Bluff and Washington, Monday’s opening college hoops slate is quite literally an all-day experience – music to the ears of hoops nerds everywhere. 

Some people don’t fully tune into college basketball until after football ends, but not us! We’re tuned in right from the jump on opening day, and we even have a few best bets to lock in for Monday’s massive card of over 100 games. Let’s get into the best bets, and don’t forget to check our NCAAB predictions for daily picks on all the biggest games throughout the season.

CBB best bet: Florida Gators -3.5 over Arizona Wildcats (-102)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Playable to -4.5. 

From best bets to future bets and everything in between, the Gators were one of our favorite teams to invest in all year long, so it’s fitting to go back to the well with the National Champions on opening night. Florida’s backcourt will look much different this year with the departures of Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin, and Will Richard, but the Gators are simply loaded in the frontcourt once again. The 4-headed monster of Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon, and Micah Handlogten are all back in Gainesville, and they draw a great matchup against Arizona on the first night of the season. 

Arizona typically has a good bit of premier talent, and this year is no different. The Wildcats won’t have Caleb Love, but there is an influx of young upside on this roster from Brayden Burries to Koa Peat to LeBron James’ youngest son Bryce. What they don’t have is much experience in the frontcourt outside of Motiejus Krivas, who hasn’t even had much sustained run himself in his 2-year college career considering he missed most of last year with an injury. It will certainly benefit the ‘Cats to have Tobe Awaka back as well, but both him and Krivas foul at an incredibly high rate – which is a trait Florida exploited against so many opponents in its quest to a title.

Experience versus inexperience is the theme here. While Florida has a brand new backcourt, Xaivian Lee is a senior with plenty of playing time under his belt in the Ivy League, while Boogie Fland was a 5-star recruit that averaged 13.5 points per game as a freshman at Arkansas last year. The two combined averaged over 10.5 assists per game, which is going to work wonders for this offense in ball screens and on fastbreaks. Behind them will be Ohio transfer and Florida native AJ Brown, who was one of the better shooters in the MAC last year at nearly 39%. All things considered, look for Florida’s experience and size to triumph in Las Vegas on night one. 

CBB bet bet: Arkansas State Red Wolves vs Ohio Bobcats Over 156.5 (-110)

Odds courtesy of Fanatics Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Playable to 159.

There are a lot of new faces in this matchup. In fact, Arkansas State’s entire team is new, as is its coach. Ryan Pannone comes to Arkansas State for his first head-coaching stint in college basketball, and while he will operate with a completely overhauled roster, he comes from the Nate Oats coaching tree – having spent the last 2 years at Alabama. If there’s one thing we know about Oats and his coaching style, his teams love to run in transition and shoot a ton of 3s. Expect that to be the case with Arkansas State, who brought in multiple guards that made over 35% of their perimeter attempts last year. 

As for Ohio, the Bobcats lost a few key pieces like AJ Brown, AJ Clayton, and Shereef Mitchell, but I expect them to be just fine offensively. Jackson Paveletzke returns to run the point, while App State transfer Dior Conners and returner Elijah Elliot will be constant threats from deep. 

The main reason for this bet is the expected pace of this game. Finishing the season in the top 50 in adjusted tempo last year, Ohio played faster than it ever has under coach Jeff Boals. In a matchup with a former Oats assistant, there should be plenty of possessions and perimeter attempts to push this total over. Assuming shots fall, we should see 160+ total points in this one.

CBB best bet: BYU Cougars -8 over Villanova Wildcats (-110)

Odds courtesy of bet365 Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Playable to -9.

It’s a new era in Philadelphia, as head coach Kyle Neptune was sent packing and replaced with Kevin Willard from Maryland. Willard will have his work cut out for him this year as he tries to rebuild Villanova back to the level it was at during the Jay Wright era. This roster isn’t loaded with the level of talent we are used to seeing at VIllanova, so I expect growing pains early. I’m particularly worried about this team’s offensive upside, as offense hasn’t really been Willard’s forte. Willard is more of a defensive specialist, and it shows in the numbers. His teams are typically top-35 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, while his offenses often struggle to crack the top 100 in effective field goal percentage. 

BYU’s overall situation, from its roster to its style on the court, is vastly different from Villanova’s. The Cougars are loaded with talent, including arguably the #1 recruit in the country in AJ Dybantsa. The future NBA lottery pick joins a ready-made NCAA Tournament team loaded with playmakers and scorers, spearheaded by returning senior Richie Saunders and Baylor transfer Robert Wright III. In coach Kevin Young’s first season, BYU was 9th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, connecting on 58.6% of its 2-point attempts and nearly 37% of its perimeter attempts with a top-25 3-point rate. 

BYU may take some time to hit its stride while incorporating Dybantsa and a new point guard in Wright, but the offensive ceiling is so much higher than this current version of Villanova. I’m expecting the Wildcats to struggle a bit in Willard’s defensive system on opening night, and for the Cougars to win comfortably in Las Vegas.

Now check out our expert’s best March Madness futures for the upcoming season