The college basketball season moves into the start of its fourth week this weekend – the season began on Friday, November 11 – and the large glut of Thanksgiving tournaments is over. There will be some holiday tournaments near Christmas and still some neutral court doubleheaders over the next few weekends, but a lot more college basketball will be played on campus sites from now on. We’ll get to see how teams handle more road environments, though some neutral-court college basketball games still exist.
Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Arizona Wildcats in Los Angeles
College Basketball Odds: Gonzaga -4.5
The first game on this list is in fact a neutral-court stand-alone game. It will be played in Staples Center, where Arizona always has a large crowd whenever it plays in that city. However, Gonzaga should have at least some fans on hand to create perhaps a 65-35 split in terms of fans, making this a reasonable approximation of an NCAA Tournament game in terms of fan support.
Gonzaga opened up this game as a 4.5-point favorite and while it has gone up to -5 and then back down to -4.5 several times this week, it is currently back to the opening price. Most of the money has been on the total as the game opened up at 143 but has since come down. If you’re betting the game at BetDSI, you can get the line at 140 at this current time. That’s a three-point swing on the total.
The reality of this game is that Arizona is fighting an uphill battle. Allonzo Trier is still not eligible to play while the NCAA and relevant administrators try to determine his playing status for the long haul. No decision has yet been arrived at. Ray Smith has been injured for the season. Parker Jackson-Cartwright is out for what the team said was a “considerable amount of time.” Arizona is being ravaged by injuries to the point that it has very little if any depth. Even if Arizona’s starting five might be better, the demands of a 40-minute game mean that the Wildcats will suffer whenever they have to turn to their bench, and that unless the bench can steal a lot of minutes, Arizona is more likely to wear down in the final minutes of regulation. Take Gonzaga here.
College Basketball Pick: Gonzaga
Xavier Musketeers @ Baylor Bears
College Basketball Odds: Baylor -5
Baylor opened up as a 5.5-point favorite in this contest but the line has since dropped to -5 as there has been action on Xavier. The total has seen some movement too as it opened up at 139.5 but has since climbed as high as 140.5 before coming back down to 140.
This is an on-campus game, and Baylor has to be seen as the team with the upper hand. Xavier struggled to beat Missouri in a mid-November holiday tournament and had to fight to beat an average Clemson team. Baylor deserves to be a top-five team after beating Louisville, VCU and Michigan State in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas, not to mention beating Oregon earlier in the season. The resilience of Baylor was shown in the Louisville game. The Bears were down 39-24 at halftime but stormed the Cardinals in the second half to win. Xavier is a good team, but Baylor is achieving greatly in the early part of the season. At home, Baylor has to be the choice.
College Basketball Pick: Baylor
BYU Cougars @ USC Trojans
College Basketball Odds: USC -5.5
It’s a big game for BYU. The Cougars lost to Valparaiso and Utah Valley, making it imperative that they pick up some big wins if they want to be an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament. BYU will certainly be motivated, and that is a reason to pick the Cougars. However, USC is a much better team. The Trojans have already beaten Texas A&M and SMU, two likely NCAA Tournament teams. Coach Andy Enfield appears to have a team which is even better than the one which got a No. 8 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament. In Los Angeles, USC should be the pick.
USC opened up as a six-point favorite and the line has since bounced between -6 and -5.5. The total opened up at 169 but has since dropped to 168.
College Basketball Pick: USC Trojans
