We’re just a couple of weeks into the 2019-20 men’s college basketball season. We have seen a few top-level matchups, but most of the action for the nation’s contenders has involved matchups against lower-level teams as a sort of warmup for conference play — and a way to build up wins to impress the March Madness selection committee. However, such teams as Duke, Florida and Baylor come into the week having won tournaments, beating a top-25 team in their respective championship games to get some respect. Among the mid-majors, Delaware is impressing in the early going, posting a 6-0 record. Do you plan to bet on some college hoops in a week filled with NFL matchups and college football rivalry games? If so, don’t miss our top college basketball betting picks for this week!
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – November 25th Edition
Duke retained its spot atop the AP Top 25 college basketball rankings this week, while UNC and Maryland traded spots. https://t.co/SPPuKB60bw
— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) November 25, 2019
Monday, November 25
BYU vs UCLA (in Hawaii) (11:30 pm ET)
The Maui Jim Mau Invitational features the 3-2 Cougars and the 4-1 Bruins. BYU enters the game having lost to Boise State, while UCLA fell to Hofstra, 88-78. BYU’s leading scorer in the loss was Jake Toolson, who went 7 for 20, putting up 19 points and dishing out four assists. The shooting night was not impressive for BYU, who made just 37 percent of their shots (including 29 percent from downtown). BYU did win the battle of the boards, 44-42, but with better shooting they would have handled the Broncos.
UCLA got 24 points and a dozen boards from Jalen Hill in their setback against Hofstra. The Bruins did lead by a point at the intermission, but Hofstra shot lights out from downtown, particularly in the second half, and so a game that UCLA led by as many as 13 points went the other way. Hofstra shot 50 percent from behind the arc (and 49 percent for the game overall). BYU has covered just twice in their last eight non-conference games, while UCLA has covered just three times in their last ten outside the Pac-12. UCLA has beaten BYU two straight times by a combined twenty points. UCLA is led by Cincinnati’s former coach Mick Cronin, who is looking to bring what he brought for the Bearcats to UCLA. However, they did not respond defensively. I do see the Bruins responding differently on Monday night.
College Basketball Betting Prediction: UCLA 70, BYU 66
Tuesday, November 26
Colorado vs Clemson (in Las Vegas) (11:30 pm ET)
Colorado brings a 4-0 record into their game against Clemson afer beating Wyoming, 56-41, on Sunday night. They continue tournament play two nights later with the win, and Tyler Bey led the way with 11 points and 19 rebounds. That gives him 12 double-doubles in his last 19 games, as well as three in the first four games of this season. D’Shawn Schwartz put up a dozen points, and Evan Battey scored nine points and pulled down 13 rebounds. The first half was slow, as the teams went into the locker room tied at 15, but then Colorado came out on a 13-0 run to run away with the game. One problem for Colorado continues to be production from the free-throw line.
Clemson brings a 5-1 record into Tuesday night’s game, as they pulled off an impressive comeback from a 15-point deficit to send the game to overtime. Tevin Mack led Clemson with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Al-Amir Dawes had eight on the night. His three-ball with 1:33 left in the extra frame put Clemson ahead for good. This gave Clemson their fifth straight win after a season-opening loss to Virginia Tech. It helped that Clemson was able to force 21 turnovers, including six during the last eight minutes of regulation. Clemson now has a +68 turnover margin for the season. Can Colorado maintain their unbeaten record? Or will Clemson prove too tough? It is hard to see this ACC unit failing to take advantage.
College Basketball Betting Prediction: Clemson 64, Colorado 60
