There a lot of teams with inflated records heading into conference play. In the Big East, eight of the ten teams have at least nine wins, and even though Seton Hall hasn’t hit nine yet, they feel like a Big Dance team. In the Big 12 (which only has ten teams), there are eight teams with eight or more wins. In the Pac-12 (which actually has 12 teams), there are six teams with at least ten wins. Conference play will separate the pretenders from the contenders. Gonzaga looks to be the real deal once again this year — and they have gotten Killian Tillie back from injury, but their problem is depth in the backcourt, because after Ryan Woolridge, things get a little scary at point guard. One big surprise is Baylor, but until big man Tristan Clark is healthy, the Bears will not do much in March. We have two primo college basketball betting picks for you to consider this week.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – December 30th Edition
“The Wildcats have only played 12 times but already recorded two wins over top-five KenPom teams (Louisville, Michigan State) and lost twice to sub-100 KenPom teams (Utah, Evansville).” -@GaryParrishCBS Just a crazy season. https://t.co/rt6dXxp5Mm
— Bryan Kennedy (@BKennedyTV) December 29, 2019
Monday, December 30th
Xavier at Villanova (6:30 pm ET, FS1)
Unranked Xavier heads to Philadelphia to take on Villanova with an 11-2 record, riding a two-game winning streak, as they followed up a loss to Wake Forest with a home win over Western Carolina and a road win at TCU. In that win over the Horned Frogs, Xavier held TCU to 32.8 percent shooting from the floor, a season low, and they held Desmond Bane, TCU’s top scorer, to two points on a pair of free throws in the first half. Xavier was up by 19 with 3:44 in the second half before TCU finished the game with a 13-2 run. Xavier is now 9-0 when their opponents do not make it to 70 points. But can they clamp down on the nation’s #10 team?
Villanova has come a long way since that early loss to Ohio State, running off five wins in a row, including a one-point win over then-#1 Kansas last Saturday. In that win, Jermaine Samuels drained a three-ball with 20.5 seconds remaining in regulation. After that, Kansas would have a chance to tie the game at the free throw line (where they missed), and Kansas had two more good looks at the basket in the waning seconds. Samuels ended up with 15 points to lead Villanova on the night, but defense took center stage in this game. Can Villanova follow up that big win with a conference tilt against Xavier coming up next?
College Basketball Betting Prediction: Villanova 64, Xavier 60
Thursday, January 2nd
Illinois at Michigan State (8:00 pm ET, FS1)
Illinois is “just” 9-4, but they opened Big Ten play with a performance that almost rewrote the national rankings, going to then-#3 Maryland and falling by a single point. Since then, they have routed Old Dominion, fallen to Missouri by seven, and then demolished North Carolina A&T, 95-64, on Sunday. In that win, Kofi Cockburn put up 26 points and nine rebounds, just one board away from his seventh double-double. No other freshman in the nation has more double-doubles than Cockburn. Ayo Dosunmu put up 19 points for the Illini, and Alan Griffin chipped in 18. Illinois has struggled in the early going on many occasions this season, but not on Sunday, as they ran out to a 50-34 halftime lead, shooting 53 percent form the floor.
The Illini get a big test on Thursday as they head to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. Michigan State is 2-0 in Big Ten play and has had a pair of cupcake wins, over Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, to lead them into the heart of conference play. Cassius Winston missed the game due to a bone bruise in his left knee, and so Foster Loyer and Jack Hoiberg ran the point, combining for a dozen assists with just a single turnover. Loyer had 16 points and, while Hoiberg had just four, his presence in the early going helped the team to a 25-0 run. Xavier Tillman put up 15 points and 11 boards, Aaron Henry chipped in 15 points, and Kyle Ahrens scored a dozen. Winston is expected to return for Michigan State on Thursday.
College Basketball Betting Prediction: Michigan State 82, Illinois 72
