At the onset of the week, the Duke Blue Devils were the overwhelming college basketball betting favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. Meanwhile, the Michigan Wolverines are the favorites to win the Big Ten, with Purdue close behind in public support. The Arizona Wildcats are the prohibitive favorite in the Big 12 Conference, with the Iowa State Cyclones the second choice. Namely, the Vanderbilt Commodores are a popular betting choice to win the Southeastern Conference. In like manner to the Duke Blue Devils, the Connecticut Huskies are massive chalk to win the Big East Conference.
Gamblers must keep in mind that the regular season conference races are still in the early stages with two months to go. Correlate that the races can be altered by a multitude of factors. Additionally, the bigger brands are going to be overvalued with prices that don’t make sense, even if they do win the championship. Thus, gamblers are best served by finding good teams at better prices who can step and take the crown at a much better price.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers won’t go away. The Big Red is 16-0 straight up, 9-7 against the spread, and 6-10 under the offshore betting total. At the beginning of his tenure, head coach Fred Hoiberg adopted an approach that catered to players looking to make the NBA. However, his idea was a disaster. Hoiberg was nearly fired but given a second chance based on a new team-first approach. As a result, the Cornhuskers are one of the great stories of college hoops.
Instead of holding his program hostage with selfish pro prospects, Hoiberg has built one of the best defensive teams in college basketball. Out of 354 Division I teams, Nebraska ranks 17th for fewest points allowed. In turn, the Huskers have an adequate offense that ranks 158th (middle of the pack) for scoring. Nebraska is coming off impressive road wins over the Ohio State Buckeyes and Indiana Hoosiers.
Hoiberg’s team has four players averaging 10 points or more per game. Rienk Mast leads with 16.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Second for Nebraska is Pryce Sandfort with 15.6 points per game.
Late on, Nebraska covered the spread in five of its last eight games. The Huskers went under the total in eight of their most recent ten games.
On January 13, the Huskers host the Oregon Ducks. Next, on January 17, the Huskers hit the road for a matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats. Nebraska offers an outstanding value in the Big Ten.
Purdue Boilermakers
The Purdue Boilermakers are operating in the shadows, and that is just how they like it. Head coach Matt Painter has one of the most balanced teams in college basketball. So far, Purdue ranks 68th for scoring offense, 11th for 3-point shooting, 34th for fewest points allowed, and 5th for defensive rebounding. Like Nebraska, the Boilers have four players averaging 10 or more points per game. Trey Kauffman-Renn is averaging 13.3 points and 10 rebounds per contest. Braden Smith is averaging 14.1 points and 9.8 assists per game.
Overall, Purdue is 15-1 straight up, 9-7 against the spread, and 6-10 under the College hoops odds. The Boilermakers covered the spread in five of their last seven games. Three of their last four games went over the total.
Next for Purdue is a January 14 home matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes. On January 17, the Boilermakers have a road game against the USC Trojans.
Iowa State Cyclones
In like manner to the Purdue Boilermakers, the Iowa State Cyclones are under the radar. Iowa State is 16-0 straight up, 10-6 against the spread, and 8-8 over the total. Late on, Iowa State has shown excellent value with five payouts in their last eight games. Iowa State is in second place behind the Arizona Wildcats in the Big 12 race. Overall, Iowa State ranks 52nd for scoring offense and 6th for fewest points allowed. Iowa State has two road games this week. First, ISU meets the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on January 13. Next is a January 17 matchup against the Cincinnati Bearcats.