One difference between this year’s men’s college basketball season and several of the previous seasons is that there really are not a lot of dominant names in the game right now. We don’t have a Zion Williamson, or a Ja Morant. The teams that are producing are doing so as a unit instead of prospering thanks to a scheme. This is one reason why scheme-based teams such as Baylor and Gonzaga are in the national title conversation, while teams that tend to rely on recruiting talent as their path to victory, such as Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky, are not in the top tier of the nation’s power rankings. Kansas is an example of a scheme-based team that is dominating despite potentially having no players on it that will ever start for an NBA team. Devon Dotson is the nation’s best player according to KenPom, but he’s only six feet tall, his right hand is his dominant hand, he turns the ball over too much, and he clanks too many threes. Udoka Azubuike dominates the paint, but in the NBA, you don’t need to dominate the paint anymore, and if you do, your team is too slow to win. Baylor and Texas Tech are already moving away from a lane-centered scheme on both ends of the floor. We’re winding down the regular season, and this week we have two solid NCAAB betting picks for you.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week of February 27th 2020
Tuesday, February 25
Memphis at SMU (9:00 pm ET, CBS Sports)
The Memphis Tigers have tumbled out of the top 25, losing three of their last five. They lost to lowly South Florida at home and then fell at Cincinnati and Connecticut, before coming home to beat East Carolina and Houston at home by a combined five points. In that victory over the Cougars, Precious Achiuwa sank a free throw with 28.2 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the win. Houston missed four shots over the last 2:23 of the second half. Malcolm Dandridge led Memphis with 12 points. Achiuwa had ten, and so did Lester Quinones and Tyler Harris.
Next up for the Tigers is a trip to SMU, who is 14-1 at home and just 4-7 away from Moody Coliseum. One of those four road wins came against Memphis, back when Memphis was ranked #20 in the nation. They also beat Houston last week — when the Cougars were ranked #20. But then they followed that up by losing at Tulane, who had lost nine games in a row, and then at Tulsa, a game that they trailed by eight with 12 minutes left in the second half, only to lose by 22. SMU might have the best point guard in the American Athletic Conference in Kendric Davis, and Tyson Jolly is a solid shooting guard. Isiaha Mike is a terrific option at the 3 or 4. But SMU has a hard time finishing, and Memphis will have plenty of motivation to avenge that earlier home loss.
Final Score Prediction: Memphis 78, SMU 70
Thursday, February 26
Oregon State at Oregon (11:00 pm ET, ESPN2)
Oregon State had a chance to make some waves in the Pac-12. They beat then-#14 Oregon at home, and then they beat Utah. However, the wheels fell off after that, as they lost at home co then-#16 Colorado. After that came a 26-point loss at then-#24 Arizona, and a one-point heartbreaker at Arizona State on Saturday. In that setback against the Sun Devils, Arizona State ended up in first place in the conference, needing 37 days to go from the basement to the penthouse. Tres Tinkle led the Beavers with 25 points, and Ethan Thompson had 20, including four makes from downtown. The second half featured 11 lead changes and five ties, and Oregon State scored the game’s last five points but could not take the lead.
Next comes a chance for the Beavers to complete the season sweep against Oregon. The Ducks also lost to Arizona State last week but then beat Arizona in overtime, 73-72, on Saturday. Payton Pritchard had 38 points, a career best, nailing six three-balls and going 8 for 8 from the free throw line. He played all 45 minutes, but he ended up going cold in overtime. Shakur Juiston scored all the Ducks’ points in overtime, making a layup with 1.4 seconds left in the extra frame to seal the win. Arizona’s Christian Koloko clanked two free throws with a second left, and the Ducks survived. Can the Ducks get redemption against a plucky Oregon State team?
Final Score Prediction: Oregon 75, Oregon State 68
