College Basketball Betting Guide: Thursday 2/2/23
College basketball is one of the more entertaining sports to bet on due to the sheer volume of games that take place each day. The season is heating up as conference play winds down, and this is a great time to hone your betting prowess before March Madness.
Using our projections as a guide, which bets should you make via the college basketball odds at FanDuel Sportsbook?
Please note that lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. Please check here to make sure you're seeing the most updated information.
Michigan at Northwestern
Northwestern Moneyline (-164): 5-Star Rating
Northwestern -3.5 (-120): 3-Star Rating
Northwestern opened as a 2.5-point favorite and was priced at -152 on the moneyline. Both of those numbers have moved in favor of the Wildcats and may keep going that way, but there is still good value on Northwestern.
Just about any way you slice it, Northwestern is the better team by a good bit, and they're playing at home. The Wildcats rank 45th by our nERD metric while Michigan checks in 76th. Barttorvik ranks Northwestern 50th and the Wolverines 75th. Barttorvik has Northwestern winning by 6.4. We project the Wildcats to win 71.8-64.4.
Michigan has lost four straight away from home, and they've covered just once in their past seven games overall.
I'm guessing these lines will keep moving Northwestern's way.
Our model gives Northwestern win odds of 76.3%. The -164 moneyline implies win odds of 62.1%, so there's still plenty of wiggle room in spite of the line movement. We rate a Northwestern moneyline bet as a five-star play while taking them to cover is a three-star wager.
Florida International at Charlotte
Charlotte -8.5 (-120): 3-Star Rating
Despite losing to Florida International earlier this season, Charlotte is a much better team than FIU, and our numbers think this spread should be bigger.
FIU ranks 231st by nERD and 210th on Barttorvik. Charlotte sits 97th in nERD and 100th by Barttorvik. And this game is in Charlotte.
Charlotte has been pretty good against the spread (ATS) this season, posting a 13-8 ATS mark. They're 6-3 ATS at home.
On the road, FIU is 2-6 ATS the spread.
Bartorvik has Charlotte winning by 9.1. Our algorithm has a lot more conviction as we project the 49ers to win by a score of 74.8-60.8. A spread bed on Charlotte is a three-star play.
Purdue Fort Wayne at Oakland
Purdue Fort Wayne +2.5 (-115): 3-Star Rating
Purdue Fort Wayne and Oakland should be a close one. The spread is just 2.5 points, and when these two played earlier this season, the game went to overtime (with PFW winning).
With Oakland at home for this one, it makes sense they'd be a slight favorite, but there are some reasons to think that 2.5 points are a bit too much.
We rank PFW 197th and Oakland 267th. The gap isn't as big on Barttorvik -- 224th for the 'Dons and 261st for the Grizz -- but Purdue Fort Wayne rates out as the better side there, too.
The Mastodons are a decent 5-5 ATS on the road.
Oakland has failed to cover in four of their past six games, including two straight home contests. They're just 8-14 ATS this season.
Barktovik and our model both like PFW to cover. Bartorvik has the 'Dons losing by 1.7. Our model actually has PFW winning this game 62.1% of the time. We rate taking them on the moneyline (+115) as a four-star bet. But given their earlier meeting and where Barttorvik stands, I like taking PFW +2.5. We give the 'Dons a 65.9% chance to cover.
