College Basketball Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Tuesday (1/31)

Jan 31, 2023 - 11:28 AM

We are a combined 6-0 in our last two college basketball best bet columns, which has us confident entering a new week. The 6-0 run has us over .500 for the first time this season, and we aim to keep that run going with another three-pack of picks.

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)

And check out our other top picks for Tuesday:

• NBA Same Game Parlay Odds, Picks & Predictions
• NBA Player Prop Odds, Picks & Predictions
• NBA First Basket Scorer Prop Odds, Picks & Predictions
• NBA Best Bets Odds, Picks & Predictions
• NBA Player Prop Bet Rankings Picks & Predictions
• NHL Same Game Parlay Odds, Picks & Predictions

YTD (as of 1/21): 11-10

Best College Basketball Bets for Tuesday

Here are our best bets for Tuesday’s college basketball action.

Kentucky vs. Ole Miss ML

Are the Wildcats due for an emotional letdown after having College Gameday on their campus over the weekend and then losing to Kansas? There is no shame in losing to the defending national champions on your home court in a game where they were desperate to avoid the first four-game losing streak of the Bill Self era.

Ole Miss is an excellent bounceback for Kentucky, as the Wildcats have won 12 of the previous 13 meetings in this rivalry. The lone loss in that span came in 2021 when the Wildcats went 9-16 and missed the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats are a much different team this year, and in last year’s meeting, the Rebels had no answer for the duo of Sahvir Wheeler and Oscar Tshiebwe, who combined for 34 points on 15-of-21 shooting. Kentucky had righted the ship with two straight road wins by a combined 23 points against Tennessee and Vanderbilt before last weekend’s loss, and we expect Ole Miss’s SEC-worst 3-point defense (36.2% allowed in league play) to be its downfall in this matchup.

Kentucky is 4-1 ATS in its last five games, while Ole Miss has covered the spread once in its last eight. We expect that to continue tonight and result in a big Wildcats win.

Bet: Kentucky ML (-230 at DraftKings) 

Indiana vs. Maryland Spread

Those that have bet against Maryland at home this season have done so at their own risk, as the Terrapins are 11-1 at home and a perfect 5-0 at home in Big Ten play. But the Terrapins have benefitted from the softer spot of their schedule thus far, only beating one team ahead of them in the standings on their home court (Illinois). We instead are backing an Indiana team that is arguably playing its best basketball of the season.

The Hoosiers have won five straight games and four by 13+ points. Indiana has shown its versatility in that stretch, scoring 80+ points three times but winning grind-out games twice when it did not have its best offense and held Wisconsin and Minnesota to an average of 51 points. Trayce Jackson-Davis has averaged 25.4 points per game during the winning streak while shooting 59.6% from the field. Indiana has won three consecutive games in this rivalry, all by eight or more points, and will do so again with its best player playing at a high level.

Maryland has covered four straight games, but Indiana looks to end that streak with four straight covers of its own against teams with a winning record.

Bet: Indiana +2.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

Northwestern vs. Iowa Spread

The Hawkeyes received a huge emotional lift in their last game against Rutgers, welcoming Patrick McCaffery back after a six-game absence. Though the coach’s son played just 13 minutes, he immediately contributed nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range.

The Hawkeyes as a whole torched Rutgers’ second-ranked overall defense (per KenPom) for 12 3-pointers (50% shooting from deep) and were difficult to keep out of the paint, attempting 34 free throws (and converting on 29). It was a masterful offensive performance, and Northwestern will have difficulty keeping pace despite winning three consecutive games out of its COVID-19 pause. The Wildcats rank 310th in effective field goal percentage, which will not get it done against a team as polished offensively as the Hawkeyes. Northwestern has forced turnovers at the Big Ten’s highest rate in league play (20.5%). Still, we do not expect it to disrupt the country’s seventh-best efficient offense, per KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric.

The favorite has covered in five straight meetings between these teams, and we expect Iowa to make it six tonight.

Bet: Iowa (-110 at DraftKings)

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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.

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