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College Basketball Odds & Best Bets Today: Schedule, Picks for Thursday

Mike Spector

Last Updated: January 5, 2023 4:55 AM EST • 2 min 60 sec read.

College basketball best bets.
College basketball best bets.

Five of the country’s top-10 teams are in action in a loaded college basketball slate. Read on for our college basketball best bets for Thursday.

Purdue gets its first chance at avenging its only loss of the season when it travels to Ohio State on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a team that will surely receive first-place votes in next week’s AP poll is also in action, as Houston hosts SMU.

Here are our college basketball best bets for Thursday (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook, PointsBet, Caesars Sportsbook, and BetMGM; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Check out our college basketball best bets.

Thursday’s College Basketball Schedule and Odds

(odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)

  • Purdue vs. Ohio State (-1.5)
  • SMU vs. Houston (-20)
  • Indiana vs. Iowa (-1.5)
  • USC vs. UCLA (-11.5)
  • Gonzaga vs. San Francisco (-10)

College Basketball Best Bets for Thursday

  • Spread: Maryland +6 (-110 via Caesars) vs. Rutgers
  • Moneyline: Indiana (+104 via FanDuel) vs. Iowa
  • Total: USC-UCLA Under 140.5 (-110 via BetMGM)
  • Upset: Oregon (+120 via PointsBet) vs. Colorado

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College Basketball Top Picks

Spread: Maryland +6 (-110) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The circumstances surrounding this game suggest Rutgers will be a heavily backed favorite. The Scarlet Knights are three days removed from a road upset of the No. 1 team in the country, while Maryland is coming off a 35-point road loss at Michigan. The Terrapins’ struggles go beyond that, as they lost four of six, with the only two wins coming against Saint Peter’s and UMBC.

However, this is the kind of game that oddsmakers capitalize on, feeding off bettors’ reactions to what has immediately preceded this game.

Maryland head coach Kevin Willard is familiar with Rutgers’ scheme from his days at Seton Hall. Thus, we will take the points in what should be a low-scoring game between two teams that rank in the top 21 in both effective field-goal percentage defense and 3-point percentage allowed.

There are plenty of options where to find Maryland at the opening number of +6, as FanDuel is the lone exception of a sportsbook that dipped to +5.5.

Moneyline: Indiana (+104) ⭐⭐⭐

Iowa is in disarray after losing three straight games and four of five. One of those losses was the worst upset this century as a 31.5-point favorite against Eastern Illinois.

To make matters worse, the team’s third-leading scorer and rebounder, Patrick McCaffery (12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds), is taking an indefinite leave from the team to deal with anxiety. As a result, the Hawkeyes do not have a lot of front-court depth to deal with Indiana’s talented frontline of Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

FanDuel is the only sportsbook at which one can back Indiana at higher than +100 odds.

Total: USC-UCLA Under 140.5 (-110) ⭐⭐⭐

UCLA has been smothering teams of late, holding opponents to an average of 57.4 points per game over the last seven contests. Only one opponent (Long Beach State) has scored more than 64 points against the Bruins on their home floor, and USC has averaged 66.3 points in its three games against top-150 KenPom competition.

In addition, UCLA ranks fifth in Haslametrics’ efficiency rating and ranks in the top 30 in the country in near-proximity percentage allowed. That does not bode well for USC’s chances of offensive success, since it gets 56.2% of its points from inside the arc (55th-most) and shoots 32.3% (237th) from 3-point range.

DraftKings has dropped this total to 140, so lock in at 140.5 at BetMGM while you still can.

Upset: Oregon (+120) ⭐⭐

Oregon is still dealing with a limited bench because of injuries, as it has just seven players averaging more than 20 minutes per game. However, there are not many better guard/center combinations in the country than Will Richardson and N’Faly Dante, and the two of them are carrying the Ducks for now.

Dante, in particular, is coming off a mammoth game in which he scored 17 points and secured eight rebounds in just 18 minutes of action, which speaks to his potential if he could stay out of foul trouble.

Oregon’s limited bench is not as much of an issue in this matchup, having played just one game since Dec. 20. Thus, we like the Ducks to upset the Buffaloes on the road, who are coming off an inexcusable loss to California without the Golden Bears’ leading scorer.

PointsBet is one of three sportsbooks (DraftKings and Caesars the others) at which one can back the Ducks at +120 odds.

College basketball best bets made 1/5/2023 at 6:23 a.m. ET.

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Written By:
Mike Spector
I have been in the sports writing industry for over three years, working for sites like BettingPros/FantasyPros, Oddschecker, and Sportsbook Review. In my first year writing for BettingPros, I finished with the #2 overall record in their annual NFL betting competition, which made picks against the spread, and from an over/under and moneyline perspective. I am an avid fan of the NFL, MLB, and all college sports. In my opinion, March Madness is the best sporting event there is, and I am especially euphoric starting with conference tournament time in college basketball. I am a big advocate of "fading the public" and making plays that are contrarian, constantly citing that "there are reasons why they have those big shiny buildings in Las Vegas." Follow me on Twitter for my best bets and commentary to go along with the wagers.