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After a long wait, we are finally in the midst of the college basketball conference tournament season. In this article every week, we'll be reviewing some of the top college basketball games of the day to see how we can beat Vegas.
On Saturday, our games notched a 2-3 record, with Rhode Island squandering a big second-half lead to narrowly fail to cover, and Boston College nearly being able to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit to cover a sixteen-and-a-half point spread.
Here are some of the top college basketball expert betting picks for Wednesday, March 11. Let me know your thoughts, and follow me on Twitter @fredetterline. All game times below are Eastern Standard Time. All game times are approximate, and typically the games are played 30 minutes after the conference tournament game directly preceding the previous game.
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Texas Tech vs. Texas - 12:30 pm
The kickoff game of the Big 12 Tournament gives us a matchup that holds significant bubble implications. Texas Tech and Texas split the regular-season series, with the road team winning each of their games. Coach Chris Beard has a 72% winning percentage as an NCAA Head Coach and led the Red Raiders to the NCAA Championship in a loss to Virginia last year. This year's team is led by Big 12 freshman of the year point guard in Jahm'ius Ramsey, a pair of impactful graduate transfer forwards in TJ Holyfield (Stephen F. Austin) and Chris Clarke (Virginia Tech), and a holdover guard who is one of the best shooters in the Big 12 in Davide Moretti. The Red Raiders will be a difficult team to eliminate in the NCAA Tournament.
Texas was in the middle of a bubble resurgence but squandered a four-game win streak with a 22-point loss to Oklahoma State to close out the regular season. Coach Shaka Smart may have saved his job with a late surge but would feel a lot more comfortable with an opening win over a fellow bubble team that would provide them with a chance to play Kansas in the semifinals. The Longhorns are led by sophomore guard Andrew Jones, a leukemia survivor, and junior forward Jericho Sims, a legitimate rim protector who may have an NBA future.
Pick: Texas +5.5
Boston University vs. Colgate - 7:30 pm
The Patriot League championship will be played between two familiar faces. The Boston University Terriers have had an up-and-down-season, but enter the championship with a 19-13 record and in a position to notch their first NCAA Tournament appearance since Penn State Coach Pat Chambers patrolled the sideline in the 2010-2011 season. To pull off the upset, the Terriers will need big games from their big 3 players - senior forward Max Mahoney, and junior guards Javante McCoy and Walter Whyte.
Coach Matt Langel has developed his program over his nine years at Colgate into the clear-cut class of the conference. Junior guard Jordan Lyons has had an all-Patriot League year, scoring in double figures in 21 straight games. In last year's NCAA Tournament game where Colgate nearly knocked off 2-seed Tennessee, Lyons hit eight three-pointers and kept the Raiders in the game. Lyons won't have to do it alone, as Patriot League defensive player of the year senior forward Will Rayman leads the league with 11 double-doubles, senior forward Rapolas Ivanauskas has been one of the top Colgate players since his transfer in from Northwestern a few seasons ago, and sophomore guards Tucker Richardson and Nelly Cummings also average double-digit scoring.
Pick: Colgate -7
McNeese State vs. Lamar - 8:30 pm
The Cowboys closed Southland conference play by winning three of their final four games to clinch the 3rd-seed in the Southland Tournament. This year will be McNeese State's first appearance in the conference tournament since an appearance in 2016. The Southland Tournament, which will be played in Katy, Texas, pits the top eight conference teams against each other. Guard Dru Kuxhausen leads the nation with 125 three-pointers made and is shooting over 42% from beyond the arc. Kuxhausen won the March 7 game over Lamar with a successful 4-point play near the buzzer.
The Lamar Cardinals dropped their final two games in conference, including a home loss to McNeese State, which dropped them to sixth in the conference. Coach Tic Price's team enters the tournament ranked 273rd in the NCAA's NET rankings, and in need of stringing a few wins together to realize their hope of continuing the team's season with a postseason appearance.
Pick: McNeese State -1
Nebraska vs. Indiana - 8:30 pm
Coach Fred Hoibeg's Cornhuskers had a forgetful year at the helm. Nebraska won just two conference games, did not win a single true road game, and recently suspended its second and third-ranked scorers in junior guards Dachon Burke Jr. and Cam Mack, who combine for over 24 points per game. Replacing Burke and Mack, the Cornhuskers added two football players to the roster in quarterback Noah Vedral and offensive tackle Brant Banks, to help augment the seven existing scholarship players. For the Cornhuskers to compete, Coach Hoiberg will need a big game from Icelandic junior guard Thorir Thorbjarnarson. Nebraska lost its final conference regular-season game to Minnesota by 32 points.
Coach Archie Miller's Hoosiers are squarely on the bubble and need to impress the Committee. The problem with this matchup is that a loss might move Indiana off the bubble, and an unimpressive win won't do anything to move the needle. Indiana will need a convincing win, as well as a strong performance in a second-round game versus Penn State at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, which is less than an hour drive from Indiana's Bloomington campus.
Pick: Indiana -13.5
Marquette vs. Seton Hall - 9:30 pm
The Golden Eagles are floundering at the wrong time. Having lost seven of their last eight games to close out the season, a once highly expected seed now finds the possibility of a double-digit seed. Senior guard Markus Howard is a prolific scorer who will go down as one of the greatest Big East players of all-time, but his supporting cast is lackluster. Fellow senior guard Sacar Anim is the only other player averaging double-figure scoring for a team that relies heavily on Howard. Despite being ranked 26th in the NCAA's NET rankings, Marquette has a 5-10 record in Quad-1 games, with its signature win over USC standing out as the only Quad-1 nonconference win.
Coach Kevin Willard's Pirates look poised to gain a top-4 seed and have a deep team that appears ready to make a deep run in the tournament. The Pirates also have a prolific scoring senior guard in Myles Powell, who teams with junior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili to make one of the most formidable inside-outside duos in the country. Seton Hall is an experienced team starting three seniors, and the rotation consists of just one underclassman.
Pick: Seton Hall -2.5
Thanks for reading, and remember to gamble responsibly.
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