This is an exciting week in college basketball, with five games coming up featuring two top-16 teams. Florida State visits Duke as both teams scramble to stay within reach of Louisville in the ACC. Florida State already won at Louisville, but they could use another signature win, and Duke could also use a plus-win. Kansas visits West Virginia, but they are a game back of Baylor in the Big 12, and they don’t want to fall out of the one-seeds in the Big Dance. Marquette visits a Villanova team that has lost three in a row. Colorado visits Oregon, and the Buffaloes could make their lead in the Pac-12 standings almost insurmountable with that road win, as the Ducks have lost two in a row. Finally, West Virginia finishes a challenging week by visiting Baylor. The Mountaineers really need one of these two games, at least, if they want to solidify their status as a high seed in March. They’ve beaten Ohio State and Texas Tech, and they need a bigger win if they want that respect from the tournament committee. We have a pair of sports betting picks for your perusal in men’s college basketball for the week ahead. Check back for college basketball betting odds.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – February 10th Edition
Wednesday, February 12
Marquette at Villanova (8:30 pm ET, FS1)
Marquette has won six of seven — and three in a row, with wins over Xavier, Depaul and then-#19 Butler. That win over Butler was a 76-57 convincing home thrashing of a ranked team and helped Marquette jump to #18 in this week’s poll. Butler was able to shut down Markus Howard, the nation’s top scorer, but Brendan Bailey and Koby McEwen shouldered the load, adding 16 points apiece. McEwen hit consecutive three-balls, and Bailey added one of his own, to put the Golden Eagles up 17 with just over six minutes remaining.
Now the Golden Eagles visit a reeling Villanova team. They have lost to Creighton, Butler and Seton Hall, the last setback coming on Saturday. Saddiq Bey led the Wildcats with 22 points, and Collin Gillespie chipped in a dozen, but Villanova could not get stops when Seton Hall had the ball, and so Villanova was never able to chip into that Seton Hall lead and build a comeback. If you like Villanova, you see them figuring out how to get stops against another talented offense.
Final Score Prediction: Villanova 74, Marquette 70
Thursday, February 13
Colorado at Oregon (9:00 pm ET, ESPN)
Colorado has knocked off USC, Cal and Stanford in their last three games; in their win over Stanford on Saturday, Colorado trailed by 16 points before coming all the way back to win. Center Evan Battey had a runner and a three-pointer to key the comeback, and D’Shawn Schwartz put up 20 points, while Tyler Bey had 11 points and nine boards, all after halftime. In the second half, Colorado shot 70 percent from the floor — and 100 percent from downtown. With a 19-5 (8-3 Pac-12) record, Colorado is off to its best start in the history of the program.
Oregon has lost two in a row, falling at Stanford and at Oregon State. That made three straight wins for Oregon State in the basketball rivalry known as the Civil War; the Beavers held Oregon without a basket over a stretch of almost nine minutes in the second half, erasing a ten-point deficit. Oregon shot 31 percent in the second half and 40 percent for the game. Payton Pritchard, who leads the Pac-12 in scoring, put up 16 points but went just 7 for 21 in the game, as he had a hard time getting open. Oregon suffers offensively because they do not have an inside presence. Can they right the ship against Colorado? Or will the Buffaloes keep their conference lead?
Final Score Prediction: Oregon 70, Colorado 66
