Nate’s College Hoops Best Bets 1/28
NATE’S COLLEGE HOOPS BEST BETS 1/28 – We are back with a fun slate of games that are sure to take your mind off of the nausea and existential malaise of existence. These are my best bets of the day! Read below for analysis.
#15 Auburn at West Virginia (-4.5, o/u 142.5), 12:00 EST, ESPN
Morgantown with be rocking for this weekend’s SEC/Big 12 clash with Auburn. The problem with Auburn is that they looked good, right up until they didn’t when they got smoked by Texas A&M. They cannot make 3s and the defense looks like it might be a problem for them. In short, that ranking in the AP Poll is going to drop.
Mountaineers have played a tough schedule in the Big 12 and haven’t had the best luck. They’ve lost a number of close games or games that went to overtime.
Classic case of conference bias here that is bating bettors into taking the Tigers here. Don’t do it. Take the better team at home.
West Virginia -4.5
Â
#13 Xavier at Creighton (-5.5, o/u 157.5), 12:15 EST, CBS
Another game, another unranked team favored over a ranked team. You already know how this will go. Don’t be fooled by the Blue Jays’ 12-8 record. They are a real team and one that I expect (hope) to make some noise in March. I’m already invested in them at 50/1 to take down the whole damn thing in a year where nothing makes any sense, and I’d think hard about hopping on the bandwagon now before they beat Xavier.
Creighton has really brought it on defense since starting conference play and they rate out as the top defense in the Big East in that time.
They should be able to get Xavier away from the perimeter and force them to attack inside. This bodes well for a Creighton team that should get plenty of looks from outside.
Xavier beat them 90-87 in their matchup earlier this season. Creighton gets revenge here.
Creighton -5.5
Â
#10 Texas at #4 Tennessee (-5.5, o/u 134.5), 6:00 EST, ESPN
The SEC is not as strong as people are giving it credit for. That’s the bottom line here.
Tennessee has unreal defensive metrics, but they might be a bit of a paper tiger after playing some weak SEC teams thus far.
Texas has had some issues as a program this season, with the midseason firing of Chris Beard, but they’ve also stacked up some quality wins.
This is too many points for the Vols to lay against the Longhorns.