College Basketball Best Bets for Sunday: Matchups, Odds, Picks, and Predictions
The first Sunday slate of the college basketball season has finally arrived. We've highlighted the odds and our college basketball best bets for Sunday.
The opening week of the 2022-23 college basketball season will wrap up on Sunday. While the slate won’t have many marquee matchup, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity to win some money while wagering on college hoops.
Here are our best bets for Sunday’s college basketball slate (odds via BetMGM, DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Sunday’s College Basketball Schedule and Odds
(Odds via FanDuel)
- Towson (-176) vs. Penn (+146)
- Montana State (+158) vs. Long Beach State (-192)
- North Texas (+285) vs. Saint Mary’s (-365)
- Colorado (+810) vs. Tennessee (-1450)
- Oklahoma State (-580) vs. Oakland (+420)
- Arizona State (-450) vs. Texas Southern (+340)
- Eastern Washington (+150) vs. Hawaii (-182)
Sunday’s College Basketball Best Bets
- Moneyline: Towson (-165 via BetMGM)
- Spread: North Texas +8.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
- Total: North Dakota State-Pacific Under 144.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
- Upset: Montana State (+158 via FanDuel)
- Prop bet: Penn race to 20 (+110 via DraftKings)
Top College Basketball Picks for Sunday
Moneyline: Towson (-165) ★★★★
This game might end up being the most entertaining of the day. This game has the highest “Torvik Thrill Quotient” of the slate with a 64, according to barttorvik.com. For comparison, Tuesday’s matchup between Duke and Kansas in the Champions Classic has an 84 in that same metric.
But don’t sleep on this matchup, because it should come down to the wire. Torvik projects a 71-70 victory for Towson, suggesting there might be some value in taking Penn on the spread at 3.5. Instead of messing with the spread, however, we are siding with the Tigers to win outright and improve to 3-0 on the year.
Towson brought back its top-four scorers from a team that went 25-9 and 15-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association last year. The Tigers fell short of securing their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991, but certainly seem determined to finish the job this year.
Spread: North Texas +8.5 (-110) ★★★★
Get ready for a rock fight when North Texas (1-0) and Saint Mary’s (2-0) square off. Both teams play strong defense and have a slower pace than the average college basketball team.
The Gaels had the 12th-best defensive efficiency last year and rank inside the top-20 again this season, according to KenPom. They are also 353rd in adjusted tempo, while North Texas is 360th in pace and has the 66th-best defensive efficiency.
That is a recipe for taking an underdog, especially when the spread is nearly three full possessions. Torvik projects a 59-55 victory for Saint Mary’s, which would provide plenty of wiggle room for our North Texas spread tickets to get to the window.
Total: North Dakota State-Pacific Under 144.5 (-110) ★★★★
When you think of the Summit League, you think of all offense and no defense. Well, the North Dakota State Bison are the exception to that rule.
NDSU ranked 144th in defensive efficiency last year, which was nearly 50 spots higher than the next best team in the league. The Bison were also one of the slower teams in the conference with an adjusted tempo that ranked 221st in the nation.
North Dakota State started the year off with back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Kansas, but obviously won’t face that level of firepower against Pacific. Torvik projects a 72-68 win for the Bison. This is a game where they should dictate tempo and their style of play, leading to an Under on the point total.
Upset: Montana State (+158) ★★★
The Montana State Bobcats opened the year with a 60-54 loss to Grand Canyon, but that was a game Danny Sprinkle’s squad let slip away. Montana State led for much of that contest before surrendering a decisive 14-2 run midway through the second half.
After winning the Big Sky and making the NCAA Tournament last season, Montana State is expected to replicate that performance. The Bobcats are led by senior big man Jubrile Belo, who won both the conference’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year award last season.
Belo averaged 0.928 points per possession on post-up plays last year, per Synergy. That doesn’t bode well for a Long Beach State squad that surrendered 0.941 points per possession on such plays. Bet on Belo to lead the Bobcats to victory on Sunday.
Prop bet: Penn race to 20 (+110) ★★
Similar to the first-inning market in baseball, college basketball offers a chance for bettors to get immediate results on a given wager. You can bet on a race to 10, 15, 20, or 25 points in the first or second half, simply by choosing which team you believe will get there first.
Because prop markets are limited for Sunday’s slate, we will take a stab at Penn setting the tone in its home opener. The Quakers have opened the year with losses to Iona and Missouri, but this is a team led by Jordan Dingle, who paced the Ivy League in scoring last year with an average of 20.9 points per game.
If Dingle starts off hot, Penn should cash this DraftKings prop by getting to the 20-point mark before Towson.
Where to Bet on College Basketball
Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:
College basketball odds and best bets made 11/12/20222 at 11:15 p.m. ET.
