College Basketball Best Bets Today | ATS Picks & Player Props for Thursday, Jan. 8

My college basketball best bets today look to continue a hot stretch of going 5-1 with our game predictions over the last three days.

I add two college basketball player props on two ranked teams’ prominent big men, backing the Over on points and rebounds for two of the AP top-12’s statistical leaders.

🏀 College basketball best bets today: Jan. 8

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Seattle vs. Oregon State prediction: Seattle -4.5 (-110 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oregon State has failed to build off a surprising road upset of Arizona State, losing three of four since. The last two losses have been particularly concerning, coming against two teams outside KenPom’s top 125 (Pacific and Washington State) by an average of 22.5 points.

Seattle is at somewhat of a scheduling disadvantage, having played its two toughest road games back-to-back against Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. But the Redhawks force turnovers at a top-30 rate, which is troubling for a Beavers offense that has struggled with ball pressure and has a negative turnover-rate delta.

Idaho State vs. Northern Colorado prediction: Over 154.5 (-110 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Northern Colorado deploys one of D-I’s most heavy drop coverages, funneling opponents into the mid-range. But that passive approach forces turnovers at the lowest D-I rate, and is surprisingly poor in rim denial as a bottom-100 2-point percentage defense.

Idaho State has a unique profile, with a 346th-ranked adjusted tempo, and it pairs that with spending an average of fewer than 16 seconds per possession on defense (18th-shortest). Clearly, the Bengals’ approach will be to make the Bears work on defense, but this should turn into more of a shootout than expected against the Big Sky’s best offense.

⛹️ College basketball player props today

Jaxon Kohler Over 10.5 rebounds (-115 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Michigan State figures to own a big advantage on the glass against Northwestern. The Spartans rank 12th in offensive rebounding percentage and second on the defensive backboards, while the Wildcats rank 192nd and 285th in those categories, respectively.

Jaxon Kohler averages 10.2 rebounds per game and is in the top 57 of offensive and defensive rebounding rate among all D-I players. This is a great matchup for him to go Over this projected total for the fifth time in seven games.

Graham Ike Over 17.5 points (-110 via bet365) ⭐⭐⭐

Graham Ike has scored 16 or fewer points in three of the last four games. But this is a “get right” matchup for Ike against a Santa Clara team that he torched for 21 and 24 points in two regular-season meetings last year, while shooting a combined 19-of-23 from 2-point range. 

Santa Clara applies pressure at a 99th-percentile rate. So as long as Gonzaga’s guards are handling that pressure, which they should with the team owning a top-21 turnover rate, that should free up Ike for easy looks inside.

We break down this game further in our Santa Clara vs. Gonzaga predictions.

🚀 Best college basketball parlay picks today