Let’s get you ready for another action-packed Tuesday card in college hoops.
–I like LSU -2 (-120 price) vs. South Carolina for 1.5 units, as I like to buy the hook when the number is -3.5, 2.5 or 1.5 in basketball. I made the Tigers six-point home favorites vs the Gamecocks, who have lost their SEC road games by margins of 21, 23, 11, 20, 3 and 35 points. They also lost by 16 at Indiana back in mid-November. LSU (13-12 straight up, 12-13 against the spread) is off an 82-79 win at Oklahoma as an eight-point road underdog. The Tigers should’ve beaten Ole Miss at home two Saturdays ago, but they let a 70-59 lead with less than three minutes remaining get away in a 72-70 loss at the buzzer. More than anything, though, we’re fading South Carolina (10-15 SU, 11-13-1 ATS) here. Lamont Paris’s team remains winless in SEC play and hasn’t tasted a victory since Dec. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Eastern on the SEC Network. I’ll also take LSU -1 for 0.5 units (BetOnline) in the first half, but I’m fine with it at -1.5.
–Let’s go with Syracuse +10.5 at Pittsburgh for one unit. Syracuse (11-15 SU, 13-12-1 ATS) is on a 9-3 ATS run in its last 12 games, going 7-3 ATS in its last 10 underdog spots. Since Jan. 7, the Orange have lost by double digits only three times to Duke, Louisville and Clemson, who are the ACC’s three best teams. Pitt (15-10 SU, 12-13 ATS) is NOT one of the ACC’s three best squads. The Panthers are mired in a 3-8 slump both SU and ATS in their last 11 games. They’re 1-6 ATS with four outright losses in their last seven games as favorites. When these teams met at the Carrier Dome on Jan. 25, Pitt won a 77-73 decision, but The ‘Cuse took the cash as an eight-point home underdog. The Orange are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games. The ACC Network will have the telecast at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
-BYU (17-8 SU, 13-11-1 ATS) has won back-to-back games and six of its last eight, going 5-2-1 ATS. The Cougars are 12-2 SU in 14 home games, winning four of its seven Big 12 home games by 15 points or more. They also have a 93-89 win over Baylor at home. BYU has 10 home wins by at least 15 points. Kansas (17-8 SU, 11-14 ATS) has lost four of its last seven games and is mired in a 2-8 ATS slide. The Jayhawks have lost three road games in a row and four of their last five both SU and ATS. I’m on BYU -2 (-120 price buying the hook) for one unit.
-Florida (22-3 SU, 18-7 ATS) will be without center Alex Condon and power forward Sam Alexis in tonight’s home game vs. Oklahoma. The Gators hit -15.5 at a lot of books last night, but they were -14 at most spots late this morning. Condon and Alexis both sustained sprained ankles in last Tuesday’s 81-68 win at Mississippi St. UF head coach Todd Golden told the media this past Friday that Condon, who averages 10.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game, would miss a week or two. As we touched on this past Friday, UF 7-foot-1 center Micah Handlogten decided to remove his redshirt and return to the court. Handlogten made his season debut in Saturday’s 88-67 win over South Carolina as a 13.5-point home favorite, logging 20 minutes of playing time. He had a solid performance, contributing two points, three rebounds, two blocked shots, a pair of steals and five assists compared to only one turnover. Handlogten made the only shot he took from the field. The Gators host the Sooners tonight at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2. I lean UF at -14 (and its Team Total ‘over’ 84.5 or 85.5 points), but I’ll probably pass pregame and look to hopefully get the Gators at a single-digit number on a live line. UF has won its last four home games by margins of 21, 11, 30 and 24 points.
-Saturday’s most impressive wins were probably Auburn at Alabama and Wisconsin at Purdue, but Tom Izzo’s team got a huge one as well at Illinois. In bounce-back mode after a stunning 71-67 loss to Indiana as an 11.5-point home favorite, Michigan St. (20-5 SU, 15-9-1 ATS) shook off a four-point halftime deficit to outscore the Fighting Illini 42-24 in the second half of a 79-65 win as a 6.5-point road underdog. Jaxson Kohler was the catalyst with 23 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. The Spartans hooked up money-line backers with a +260 payout at FanDuel. They’re back in action tonight vs. Purdue at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Peacock. As of late this morning, most shops had Sparty listed as a 3.5-point home favorite with a total of 148.5.
-Saturday was a rough night for Illinois, as Brad Underwood’s team saw freshman forward Morez Johnson go down with a wrist injury. Johnson, who averages 7.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game, is out indefinitely. Before sustaining the injury, Johnson had 17 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots against the Spartans.
-Saturday’s worst loss? That has to be UConn, which went down 69-68 at Seton Hall as a 13.5-point road favorite. The Huskies will try to get back on track tonight at home vs. Villanova. As of late this morning, most books had UConn (17-8 SU, 11-14 ATS) favored by nine points for this 6:30 p.m. Eastern tip on Fox Sports 1.
-Poor Boston College. The Eagles have lost five of their last six games, but three of the five defeats have been in overtime. They’re 4-2 ATS in their last six games going into tonight’s home game vs. Va. Tech at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on the ACC Network. One of those two non-covers came in a 95-86 triple-overtime loss at Syracuse as seven-point underdogs in a game they led by seven in double OT. As of late this morning, the Hokies were 1.5-point road favorites with a total of 142.5. The ‘over’ is on a 12-4 run for BC in its last 16 games.
-Joe Lunardi’s latest edition of ‘Bracketology’ was posted to ESPN.com this morning. His Last Four Byes include Texas, West Virginia, BYU and Vanderbilt, while his Last Four In consists of San Diego St., Oklahoma, Arkansas and Wake Forest. The First Four Out are VCU, Georgia, SMU and North Carolina, and his Next Four Out are Indiana, Xavier, Kansas St. and UC Irvine.
–My college basketball picks for VegasInsider went 2-1 last night, as I hit winners with Florida A&M -3 vs. Alcorn St. and K-St. at Utah ‘under’ 147.5 points. My lone defeat was Virginia +14.5 vs. Duke. The Blue Devils won 80-62 at UVA. FAMU is now on an 11-0 ATS run and has won nine of its last 10 games after beating Alcorn St., 85-76. In Utah’s 74-69 win over K-St., the 143 combined points allowed the ‘under’ to prevail. The ‘under’ is now on a 15-5 run for the Utes, who improved to 6-1 both SU and ATS in their last seven home games. The Wildcats saw their six-game winning streak snapped with a pair of losses in Utah on Saturday and Monday, but they’re still 9-2 ATS in their last 11 contests.
–I presented my plan to hopefully get on K-St. at a better number yesterday on Twitter. We ended up settling for +6 on one account and +6.5 on another, but it was enough to cash. They remained in Lunardi’s Next Four Out despite the losses at BYU and at Utah. On the other hand, Boise St. fell out of the Next Four Out following its loss Saturday at San Diego St.
-Let’s hit on the five SEC teams that are on the bubble starting with Texas (16-10 SU, 13-12-1 ATS). The Longhorns are mired in a 0-4 ATS slump, but they ended their three-game losing streak with Saturday’s 82-78 non-covering home win over short-handed Kentucky as 4.5-point favorites. The ‘over’ is on a 5-0 run for Texas after the 160 combined points went North of the 158.5-point total. Rodney Terry’s team is #32 in the NET rankings with a 4-8 record against Quad-1 opponents and a 3-2 mark versus Q2 foes. The Longhorns are #35 at KenPom. The good news for Texas is its remaining schedule (KenPom ranking used for its opponents here): at #80 South Carolina (this Saturday), at #39 Arkansas, vs. #43 Georgia, at #30 Mississippi St. and vs. #44 Oklahoma.
-Vandy (17-8 SU, 15-10 ATS) and Arkansas are probably the SEC bubble teams who are playing the best right now. The Commodores led for the first 31 minutes Saturday at Tennessee, including a 44-31 advantage at halftime, but they ended up dropping an 81-76 decision as 12.5-point road underdogs. They’re #41 in the NET, compiling a 2-7 record against Q1 foes and a 4-1 mark versus Q2 opponents. Mark Byington’s team is also #41 at KenPom. Vandy’s remaining schedule is brutal, but it contains at least four Q1 opportunities, including home games vs. #24 Ole Miss and vs. #15 Missouri. The ‘Dores also get Arkansas at home, and they have road games at #19 Kentucky (tomorrow night), at #13 Texas A&M and at #43 UGA in their regular-season finale.
-Arkansas (15-10 SU, 9-15-1 ATS) had its 4-0 ATS run snapped in Saturday’s 69-61 loss at Texas A&M as a 7.5-point road underdog. However, some of the Razorbacks’ betting backers got a push, and many probably hit a winner at +8.5 if they placed their wagers on Friday night or early Saturday morning. Whatever the case, it was a fifth consecutive solid effort out of John Calipari’s improving squad. There’s no shame in either of the Hogs’ losses in February – 85-81 at home vs. Alabama and the aforementioned defeat in College Station. Arkansas is #42 in the NET, going 3-8 in Q1 games and 1-2 in Q2 matchups. Cal’s team plays at #1 Auburn on Wednesday, followed by games vs. Missouri, vs. Texas, at South Carolina, at Vandy and vs. Mississippi St.
-Oklahoma (16-9 SU, 11-14 ATS) has lost four games in a row both SU and ATS, including blowout defeats at Auburn (98-70), vs. Tennessee (70-52) and at Missouri (82-58). However, Saturday’s 82-79 loss to LSU as an eight-point home ‘chalk’ was the costliest. The Tigers were on a seven-game losing streak and came to Norman with a 1-10 record in SEC play. OU is #52 in the NET with its 4-7 record in Q1 games and 2-1 mark in Q2 contests. The Sooners are 3-9 in SEC action with their resume staying above water thanks to neutral-court wins over #82 Providence, #12 Arizona, #22 Michigan and #25 Louisville. Their remaining schedule looks like this: at Florida, vs. Mississippi St., vs. Kentucky, at Ole Miss, vs. Missouri and at Texas.
-Finally, let’s discuss Mike White’s Georgia (16-10 SU, 12-14 ATS) team that’s lost three straight games and eight of its last 10. Four of UGA’s last five setbacks have been by margins of 13 points or more. The Bulldogs are #39 in the NET since all 10 of their losses are of the Q1 variety. They have two Q1 wins and are 3-0 in Q2 games. UGA is off until Saturday’s showdown at Auburn, followed by vs. Florida, at Texas, at South Carolina and vs. Vandy.
-The SEC’s Availability Report for Wednesday’s games will become available at 8:10 p.m. Eastern tonight. Going off of Kentucky HC Mark Pope’s comments to the media on Monday, it sounds as if UK’s Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler will be ‘out’ again vs. Vandy.
-We’re waiting to hear injury updates on Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber and Duke’s Maliq Brown. It didn’t look good for Brown, who left last night’s win at UVA with a dislocated shoulder. Sorber, the Hoyas’ best player, left Saturday’s loss at Butler in the first half with an ankle injury and didn’t return.
-Nebraska big man Berke Buyukttuncel (7.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.0 SPG) is going to miss a third straight game Wednesday at Penn St.
-I’ll be a guest on VSIN’s Prime Time with Matt Youmans and JVT at 7:30 Eastern tonight to discuss tonight’s college basketball games and a few on tap for Wednesday. If you wish, you can tune in on Sirius XM channel 158.
-My documented NBA picks on VegasInsider are on a 31-9 run (77.5%) since Jan. 1 going into Thursday’s games. (There’s actually one NBA game tomorrow night before a full card on Thursday.) I already have one pick available that you can see right here for Orlando at Atlanta.
-My college basketball selections on VI have hit at a 37-20 clip (65%) over the last 30 days for 14.73 units of profit.
-If you have any betting questions, you can always hit me up on Twitter at @vegasbedwards or e-mail me at briane.edwards11@gmail.com. If you successfully tail my picks and want to buy me a cold Budweiser or two, feel free to do so.
-You can check back this afternoon for updates to this article, as I’ll add injury intel as it becomes available. As always, best of luck with your bets and gamble responsibly.