Home favorites may not be the most profitable group of college basketball teams to put your faith behind, but they may be considered the “safest.” So how do you know who to trust?
Luckily, we are here to guide you towards the riches. Here are three home favorites you should wager multiple units on for the Saturday slate.
Wisconsin Badgers at Illinois Fighting Illini Preview
Best Bet: Illinois (-5)
There are teams you can trust, and there are teams that you can’t trust. The Wisconsin Badgers have been alternating wins and losses over their last four games and are 3-3 against the spread on the road this season.
On the season, the Illinois Fighting Illini are 8-2 straight-up at home and 7-3 against the spread. Illinois is also outperforming the spread by an average of 3.9 points per game, while the Badgers are underperforming the spread by 0.7 points per game.
On the road, Wisconsin is underperforming the spread by 3.9 points per game, while the Fighting Illini are outperforming the spread by an average of 3.5 points per game at home.
There is not a player on the Badgers roster that can stop Ayo Dosunmu from filling the stat sheet on the perimeter. Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers are also in for long afternoons as they try to slow down the behemoth that is Kofi Cockburn in the post.
Illinois all day.
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Ole Miss Rebels at Auburn Tigers Preview
Best Bet: Auburn (-4.5)
This is a classic “regression to the mean” game for both of these programs. The Auburn Tigers are worse than the Georgia Bulldogs, and there is zero chance the Ole Miss Rebels are better than the Tennessee Volunteers.
Auburn will be looking to avenge a pre-Sharife Cooper loss in Oxford while also staying in the Southeastern Conference race to the middle. The spread is growing in this game as fans clamor to bet on the freshman point guard phenom, but 4.5 still feels correct.
As the favorite, the Tigers are 8-1 straight-up on the season and 4-3-2 against the spread. Auburn is 5-2 against the spread since Cooper joined the roster.
As the dog, Ole Miss is just 2-3 on the season while being 2-5 against the spread in true road games.
Take the Tigers to cover all the way to 5.5 points at home. Cooper is going to have a coming-out party against the Rebels.
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Iowa State Cyclones at Oklahoma Sooners Preview
Best Bet: Oklahoma (-14.5)
We are going to try and not overthink this. Iowa State is bad. To put this in perspective, the only power six teams ranked lower than the Cyclones in Kenpom are Vanderbilt, Washington, and Kansas State.
On the flip side of that coin, Oklahoma had defeated three consecutive top 25 Kenpom teams prior to falling to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Monday evening.
The Cyclones have lost six consecutive games, and four of those losses were by double digits. On the road, Iowa State has an average margin of defeat of 19.5 points per game while underperforming the spread by an average of 6.9 points per game.
Take the Sooners and walk away with a clear conscience.