College Basketball Best Bets for Wednesday: Matchups, Odds, Picks, Predictions
College basketball has some thrilling matchups on Wednesday's slate, with many of the sport's blue bloods in action. We have highlighted the odds, movements, and our college basketball best bets for Wednesday.
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups highlight the college basketball slate for the third consecutive day. We have two mouth-watering matchups on tap Wednesday as Ohio State visits the Cameron Crazies to take on Duke, while North Carolina heads into a raucous atmosphere at Assembly Hall, where the Indiana Hoosiers will try and prove they are Big Ten contenders.
Here are our best bets for Wednesday’s college basketball slate (odds via Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Wednesday’s College Basketball Schedule and Odds
(odds via DraftKings)
- Purdue (-1500) vs. Florida State (+900)
- McNeese vs. Tennessee (No Moneyline, -34.5)
- Ohio State (+195) vs. Duke (-230)
- North Dakota (+1700) vs. Iowa State (-9000)
- North Carolina (+180) vs. Indiana (-210)
- Michigan State (-130) vs. Notre Dame (+110)
Wednesday’s College Basketball Best Bets
- Moneyline: Santa Clara (-278 via Caesars)
- Spread: TCU -6.5 (-110 via Caesars)
- Total: Middle Tennessee State-St. Bonaventure Under 132.5 (-115 via BetMGM)
- Upset: North Carolina (+200 via Caesars)
- Prop Pick: La Salle first-half spread (Off)
Top College Basketball Picks for Wednesday
Moneyline: Santa Clara (-278) ★★★★
Santa Clara's 10-point win over Iona was lost in the shuffle in the weekend's high-profile Phil Knight tournaments and the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Broncos benefitted from Iona's Quinn Slazinski's absence (he leads the Gaels in scoring at 18 points per game).
Still, Santa Clara also was efficient offensively, scoring 86 points despite 20 turnovers while facing the Gaels' menacing pressure. The Broncos muscled the Gaels on the backboards, out-rebounding them 35-20, and attempted 29 free throws to Iona's 10.
Wyoming is another team that Santa Clara can have its way with physically, especially with MWC Preseason Player of the Year Graham Ike on the shelf for 6-to-8 weeks after suffering an injury.
Without its leading scorer from a year ago, Wyoming has become a perimeter-oriented team, with the 13th-highest percentage of its shots coming from 3-point range. But the Broncos limit opponents to 30.2% shooting from deep, and they are built to limit the Cowboys' strengths.
Spread: TCU -6.5 (-110) ★★★★
The Horned Frogs are another team coming off an impressive victory, as they held an explosive Iowa offense to just 66 points after the Hawkeyes scored fewer than 83 points on just one other occasion this year. Jamie Dixon's squad hits the offensive glass at an elite rate, securing 36.8% of their misses (22nd-best rate in the country).
Though Providence is even better with the 10th-best offensive rebounding rate, the Friars allowed 29 offensive rebounds in their two losses combined, which has to be a concern against a physical TCU team.
The Horned Frogs are 19-7-3 against the spread in their last 29 games against teams with a winning record, while Providence has failed to cover any of its last four games overall.
Not only is Caesars offering the best number compared to other 7.5s out there, but one does not have to pay the -115 juice to lay the points with the Horned Frogs as they do at other sportsbooks.
Total: Middle Tennessee State-St. Bonaventure Under 132.5 (-115) ★★★
The Bonnies have made a 1-2 start seem like a distant memory, as they have won three consecutive games against Bowling Green, Southern Indiana, and Notre Dame, all by at least 12 points. The victory over the Fighting Irish was easily St. Bonaventure's most impressive performance of the season, as Notre Dame shot a season-low 2-of-17 (11.8%) from 3-point range and 34.5% (19-of-55) from the floor overall.
St. Bonaventure has allowed 61.7 points per game during the three-game winning streak, and a team that returned just 0.5% of its minutes from last year (357th-fewest in the country) is starting to buy into Mark Schmidt's defensive schemes.
On the other side, Middle Tennessee State ranks 24th in turnover percentage forced and 16th in offensive-rebounding percentage allowed, so the Bonnies will have a lot of one-and-done possessions when they can even get shots up.
Laying the extra juice at BetMGM is worth it considering all other sportsbooks are at 131.5 or lower.
Upset: North Carolina (+200) ★★★
This is not a knock against Indiana, as we peg it as the favorite to win the Big Ten. However, Mike Woodson's end-of-game decisions in big games have been shaky. In addition, we are not as down on the Tar Heels as many are despite back-to-back losses, as they had several opportunities to walk out of the Phil Knight Invitational with just one loss but had some bad bounces in a quadruple-overtime loss to Alabama.
North Carolina has had three days to rest its legs after that tough loss, and the Tar Heels are one of the few teams with a better frontcourt than Indiana, as we like their tandem of Pete Nance and Armando Bacot better than Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson.
Though this is North Carolina's first true road game, we trust its four returning starters with experience playing in the national championship not to let the atmosphere rattle them.
Caesars offers by far the best value, as bettors can get upward of $20 value on the Tar Heels’ Moneyline compared to the +180 odds or worse at competing sportsbooks.
Prop Pick: La Salle first-half spread (Off) ★★★
Before getting hired at La Salle, Fran Dunphy spent 13 seasons as Temple's head coach, winning at least 21 games nine times in his tenure. We would have expected the Explorers to be competitive over the first 20 minutes anyway, given that this is a Big 5 Rivalry game. Still, we expect Dunphy's squad to play with extra emotions to secure a win for their coach against his former team.
Where to Bet on College Basketball
Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:
College basketball best bets from 11/30/2022 at 7:02 a.m. ET.
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