College basketball Saturday mega parlay (+2008 odds): Don't count out Virginia

Virginia Cavaliers guard Kihei Clark (0) greets head coach Tony Bennett during a timeout in the second half against the Clemson Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum
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Andrew Ortenberg

NCAAB

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I'm an NFL handicapper here at Pickswise who was raised in a household full of sports fanatics. Since I unfortunately never had LeBron James' jumping ability I wasn't able to make it to the NBA, and chose writing about sports as the next best thing. An avid sports bettor myself, I'm excited to get to write about the industry as it gets set to take off across the country. Buckle up. For Andrew Ortenberg media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.
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It sure is great to have college basketball back in full swing. Following Christmas and New Year’s, now it’s time to turn our attention to 2022 — and we have a big college hoops slate on Saturday. What better way to celebrate than by going for a big payday? That’s right; we’re back with another mega parlay, college hoops edition. We’re going big and bold again, so let’s not waste any more time.

But before we dive in, don’t forget to check out our free picks on the side and total for every big NCAAB game.

Virginia ML (+240)

Middle Tennessee ML (+520)

Parlay odds: +2008

Let’s break down each of the two legs one by one.

Virginia ML (+240) over North Carolina

Let’s start off this mega parlay in the ACC. I don’t think Virginia should be this large of an underdog. A lot of people buried the Cavaliers because of a couple early losses, but they have only lost three games since November 16. Two of those losses came by a combined four points. They have gotten back on track a bit with road wins over Syracuse and Clemson in their last two games. Clearly they don’t have too much trouble winning away from home.

I also think that North Carolina is getting a bit too much respect. The Tar Heels have only played two games against KenPom top 100 competition recently, and they lost both those games. First they got demolished by Kentucky by 29 and then lost to Notre Dame their last time out. ECU transfer Jayden Gardner is starting to find his rhythm for UVA, and he’s coming off a monster 23-point game.

Middle Tennessee ML (+520) over North Texas

Give me Middle Tennessee to wrap up this mega parlay. North Texas is being overpriced here. The advanced metrics love the Mean Green because of their defense, but that’s not necessarily an asset when talking money lines. North Texas’ pace of play ranks 357th out of 358 D1 teams. Because they play at such a slow pace, their games tend to be high variance with limited possessions. Making them prime targets for money line upsets.

Almost all of their wins have been by 10 points or fewer, and Middle Tennessee isn’t lifeless by any means. The Blue Raiders have lost five games, and those were mostly all close games against solid programs. North Texas shoots just 32.1 percent from beyond the arc and it doesn’t do anything particularly well offensively.

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