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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

Today

TBS, TruTV

Iowa

Illinois

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Point Spread Pick

Illinois Win -7.0(-115)

Reasoning

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A pair of Big Ten teams are set to face off in the Elite Eight as the #2 seed Illinois Fighting Illini take on the #9 seed Iowa Hawkeyes. Illinois was terrific in its win over Houston, shooting 43.1% from the floor and dominating the glass, 43-34. This is a loaded Illini team with five players averaging double figures, but all eyes will be on Keaton Wagler and his ability to lead them to the Final Four. Wagler is averaging 17.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while David Mirkovic provides a strong interior presence inside with 13.7 points and 8 rebounds per game – something Iowa will need to account for defensively.

For Iowa, Bennett Stirtz is coming off his best performance of the tournament, scoring 20 points with four assists against Nebraska. However, he struggled in the earlier matchup against Illinois, finishing with just 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting. According to KenPom, Illinois ranks 21st in adjusted defensive efficiency (97.5) compared to Iowa who ranks 32nd (99.9). Offensively, Illinois ranks 2nd (131.4) and Iowa 20th (123.8). When these two teams met earlier in the season, Illinois walked away with a 75-69 victory. The Illini did a great job at controlling the boards but committed 12 turnovers, which led to easy transition points for Iowa. If Illinois can clean up those mistakes and limit turnovers, their size, depth, and offensive efficiency should give them the edge. After seeing how Illinois handled Houston’s physical defense, they appear well-positioned to handle Iowa’s pressure and control this game. Look for the Fighting Illini to take over down the stretch and punch their ticket to the Final Four.

Iowa vs Illinois prediction: Illinois -7 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

BET -7.0 NOW WITH

Jason Fragomeni

8:49 PM ET

Today

TBS

Purdue

Arizona

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Point Spread Pick

Arizona -6.0(-115)

Reasoning

The West Regional in San Jose features the top 2 seeds on Saturday night as the Arizona Wildcats face the Purdue Boilermakers. We have a trip to the Final Four on the line, and both clubs are obviously playing their best basketball of the year. Arizona has looked every bit the part of a title contender each step of the way, while Purdue has had a couple of dogfights but continues to come out on top. On Saturday night, the Wildcats are favored by 6 points, and lots of money is flowing toward the underdog. I think Arizona is just that good, and I am going to keep riding with them.

Purdue does a lot of things well. The problem in this game is that Arizona does all those things better. Purdue is a dominant team on the glass; Arizona is better. Purdue shoots the 3-ball well; Arizona defends it well. Purdue scores well around the basket; Arizona protects the rim better than anyone. Neither team turns it over much, and the Purdue identity is built around being the #1 team in the country for offensive efficiency. But what happens when they run into a top-3 defense? If Purdue is stymied at all, they will be in trouble, because Arizona will not be slowed down. No one has slowed down their multi-level attack yet, and if you are going to beat them, you just have to outdo them at it. I don’t see it. Arizona wins, and I think they cover too.

Purdue vs Arizona Prediction: Arizona -6 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -7.

BET -6.0 NOW WITH

Chad Hartsock

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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