Friday Night College Hoops Betting Picks

Without any football left to bet other than the 2021 Super Bowl, it’s time to turn our betting attention fully to college basketball. There are a number of good games on Friday night, and here are our top picks for the slate.

Where to Bet on College Hoops

New Mexico State Aggies at Grand Canyon Antelopes Preview

Best Bet: Antelopes (-3)

We are now in the fourth week of January, and the Aggies have played only a single Division I basketball program. To make matters even more dire, that game against Cal-State Northridge took place over a month ago, and it was a loss to the 285th team in Kenpom.

Since then, the New Mexico State Aggies have played one game, and that was against Western New Mexico, which resulted in a 70-49 victory.

In that Western New Mexico game, the Aggies managed just 1.08 points per possession and still turned the ball over a dozen times. The rankings are very thin on New Mexico State because Kenpom only creates his numbers against Division I opponents, but let’s just say that they aren’t good.

New Mexico State is not without talent, as it is led by former UTEP guard Evan Gilyard and UNLV transfer wing Donnie Tillman. But the Aggies simply have not played enough games against quality opponents to warrant a backing wager on the road.

The Grand Canyon Antelopes, on the other hand, is the perfect home team to back on a thin Friday night slate. The Antelopes are 10-3 straight up on the season, including 6-1 at home.

In their games against Division I opponents, they are an impressive 8-2 against the spread overall and 4-0 ATS at home.

The Antelopes are led by 7-footer Asbjorn Mitgaard, who averages nearly a double-double at 15 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, and Alessandro Lever with 13 points and five boards per game. As a team, Bryce Drew’s team is fifth in the nation in field-goal percentage at nearly 52%.

Grand Canyon is outperforming the spread by four points per game overall and 6.5 points per game at home. They are as safe of a bet as there is in this spot.

Live NCAAB Odds and CBB Predictions

Iowa Hawkeyes at Illinois Fighting Illini Preview

Hawkeyes vs. Fighting Illini Over/Under Pick

Best Bet: Fighting Illini (-2)

This is an interesting line. There is little doubt that the Fighting Illini are receiving the benefit of the doubt because they are the home team, but No. 19 Illinois is just 1-2 straight up in its last three home games.

Illinois is just 9-6 against the spread on the season and 6-3 ATS at home. As the favorite, the Illini have already lost four times.

They simply have not looked like the Final Four team that many predicted coming into the season.

The seventh-ranked Hawkeyes are 10-5 against the spread on the season but just 2-2 ATS on the road. Iowa is coming off a loss to a feisty Indiana team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, so it should come out chomping at the bit in this game.

The big matchup here will be Luka Garza against Kofi Cockburn in the battle of two of the best big men in the nation. Garza gets most of the publicity due to his tremendous scoring prowess, but Cockburn is one of the most physically intimidating players in the entire nation.

In last season’s matchup, Garza got the better of the then-freshman Cockburn with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. Cockburn was held to just six points and six rebounds. Look for those numbers to change drastically in this matchup.

When it’s all said and done, look for Iowa to get the win on the road and log an all-important quadrant 1 victory.