March is here, and major conference tournaments are starting to pick up steam. Make sure you’re keeping your eyes on the DraftKings Sportsbook betting splits when doing your research, available for free on DK Network.
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Let’s breakdown some best bets on Thursdays college hoops card.
Indiana vs. Oregon (12:00pm ET)
After an unpleasant season for the Hoosiers, they were able to rip off a 4-1 finish in regular season play. That only loss came on the road at Oregon, in a game IU was very competitive, but let get away late. Now the Ducks have to travel out to Indy to face the Hoosiers on a “neutral” floor in their first Big Ten Tournament. This feels like a good spot to sell high on an Oregon team that’s ripped off seven wins in a row, but has been through plenty of struggles this season. I’ll back the revenge spot for Indiana in a semi-home game.
College Basketball Pick: Indiana ML (+110) 1-unit
Iowa State vs. BYU (12:30pm ET)
The Cougars just went to Hilton and pulled out an impressive double-overtime victory as sizable underdogs. No doubt, this sets up a decent revenge spot for the Cyclones in a building that’ll be significantly in their favor. That said, Iowa State did play on Wednesday afternoon, and the backcourt got a bit dinged up. Tamin Lipsey suffered a groin injury in the win over Cincinnati, and while he’s expected to play, who knows how that’ll hinder him with less than 24 hours of rest. The bigger news is that Keshon Gilbert was unable to return from his injury, and after recently missing some time, sounds unlikely to push it in this one. Gilbert is a huge piece of what ISU does, and his potential absence really changes this game.
Meanwhile, BYU has been machine-like down the stretch this season. The Cougars have won and covered eight games in a row, three of them as underdogs, finding ways to win in extremely difficult road atmospheres. If you look at different metric sites that are highly regarded, many would tell you this is a top-10 team over the last month. I’ll back BYU to notch another win as a dog, and carry some of that red-hot momentum into the Big 12 Tournament, particularly going against a team that’s been battling so many recent injuries.
College Basketball Pick: BYU ML (+130) 1-unit
Xavier vs. Marquette (2:30pm ET)
Xavier has taken some sharp money as a long shot in the Big East, and while Saint John’s might be a tall task to get past, I do like the situation for the Musketeers on Thursday afternoon. Xavier has been rolling lately, winners of seven in a row, going 5-2 ATS over that span. While the Musketeers feel like they’re steadily improving, the larger piece of my handicap on this one is the decline of Marquette.
The Golden Eagles peaked back in December, and have had a rough go down the stretch of the regular season. Marquette is off a tough home loss to Saint John’s in which it took a ton of money, growing from a pick’em to a 4.5-point favorite. That highlights the respect that the market has for this team, but I don’t think it’s warranted. The Golden Eagles are just 4-6 straight up since February 1, and have been at least 13-point favorites in all four of their wins. Any game with a tight point spread, whether Marquette is favored or the dog, has gone the other way. I like Xavier to exploit key advantages in the paint, and ultimately advance to Friday.
College Basketball Pick: Xavier +2.5 (-105) 1-unit
Boise State vs. San Diego State (5:30pm ET)
Home court advantage during the Mountain West was massive throughout the regular season. This is a very balanced conference with a handful of good teams, and now things will really balance out with the scene shifting to Las Vegas for the tournament. Both teams have tremendous coaching, but the Broncos are the more talented team and have tremendous veteran leadership, which is why I’ll back them here.
Boise is riding an 8-3 ATS run into Vegas, and was on a five-game winning streak prior to losing the season finale on Friday. Prior to the five-game winning streak, the Broncos last loss was on the road to San Diego State. I like the double bounce-back spot that sets us up with here, as Boise will be looking to both come out strong after a poor showing on its Senior Night, as well as avenge an earlier loss to the Aztecs. Look for the senior combo of Tyson Degenhart and Alvaro Cardenas to be on their game in this one, and lead the Broncos to the next round in the Mountain West.
College Basketball Pick: Boise State ML (-110) 1-unit
Kansas vs. Arizona (9:30pm ET)
I had this spot circled as a play on Arizona when the Big 12 bracket was revealed, and given how Wednesday went this became an even stronger spot in my mind. Kansas just hasn’t been the same team outside of Allen Fieldhouse, and we saw that on display once again on Wednesday. The Jayhawks needed overtime to fend off a far inferior UCF team as a double-digit favorite. Now KU turns around off OT to play the next day, and gets a hungry Arizona squad that’s looking for revenge off the last game it played — Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Wildcats fell behind early at Kansas’ Senior Day, but were able to grind back and make it a competitive game before ultimately falling short. Arizona has played well away from home all season, and have been prepping for the rematch with the Jayhawks, who got far more than they bargained for on Wednesday evening. Pre-tournament this probably would’ve been a 2-unit play for me, but given the current circumstances I’m willing to go pretty big on ‘Zona here. Early money is all over the Wildcats, and I expect this one to grow leading up to tip.
College Basketball Pick: Arizona ML (-120) 3-units
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.
