College Basketball Gambling Primer Presented By PointsBet: December 4, Keep The Hot Streak Going
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YTD: 44-33-3 (I'm so scared when this goes cold.)
Over 148 Penn/Villanova
Purdue -1.5
DePaul +2
Ohio State +3.5
Oklahoma State -11
Picks
Some things: We're officially done with the tournaments and I sure miss them already. We really need more day time hoops. So here we are and thankfully we have some unreal games this week to keep us entertained before the schedule weakens with finals happening. The lines comes from our friends at PointsBet (taking these at 11am as I work on this). These will be posted a few times a week as the schedule permits and there's games I want to gamble on and enough of them. If there's any drastic news that changes something I'll update the blog or post something on my Twitter (barstoolreags). Let's hoop and get rich.
This may be shocking because I think most people picture the Nova team against Ohio State, but this Nova offense is HUMMING right now. That's mostly due to Collin Gillespie figuring shit out and getting Bryan Antoine healthy to add a little depth, but Nova is here. They are shooting the hell out of the ball, they aren't playing slow and they are doing what Nova likes to do - get a bunch of threes up. Nova's offense isn't exactly complex, it's actually pretty basic. It's based on beating your guy off the dribble 1v1 and getting into the lane, once there it's a jump stop for a layup or a kick for an open jumper or for that guy to beat his defender. They are doing that. You know who else likes to shoot threes? Penn.
Pick: Over 148
This over/under is so outrageous I feel like we need to take the under out of respect. Howevah, I'm going to go another way here. Purdue is coming off of a tournament in which they played teams that are similar to Virginia (as similar as one can be defensively). They beat VCU and lost to FSU in OT - both great defensive teams. Virginia is also without Braxton Key who is just so important for what they want to do offensively. I am curious to see who wins the rebounding battle between Purdue's OReb vs Virginia's DReb. Purdue is actually 8th in the country in OReb% (thanks Matt Haarms) while Virginia is the best defensive rebounding team in the country. This is strictly a Mackey play.
Pick: Purdue -1.5
I love this DePaul team and I don't care who knows it. Actually, I do care because I want people to still think they stink so they bet against them. I am curious to see how they handle Texas Tech's defense, which is predicated on taking away half the floor and forcing you to shoot threes. DePaul wants to get into the lane as much as possible, even though they shoot the ball pretty well. As much as I love Chris Beard, this Texas Tech team is a bit weird. They are pretty much relying on a top-40 freshman to be the best player on the team and lead them offensively as Chris Clarke will turn into the likely No. 2 option. DePaul finally has some talent in the program and we're rolling with them again for the 4th time this year.
Pick: DePaul +2
I'll be honest. I'm scared of taking either side here, but that's not the point of betting. There is a mismatch in this game and that's Garrison Brooks (for both sides). Kaleb Wesson should be able to mitigate Armando Bacot. You have a bunch of dudes to throw at Cole Anthony. However, Garrison Brooks has shown flashes of being able to be that 2nd/3rd scorer while at the same time Ohio State can attack Brooks defensively with a smaller, quicker wing if they want. Or they can stretch him out if they go small. Throw in the fact that UNC is coming off of 3 games in 3 days in the Bahamas and has a trip to Virginia on Saturday and Gonzaga on the 18th it could be a good spot for OSU. I gave out OSU in the futures blog in the preseason so I'm sticking with my thoughts on this team.
Pick: Ohio State +3.5
Let's see here. First game since losing your best player and another rotational player? It's on the road? There's a million people talking about your program in a negative way? I mean you can't bet Georgetown right? (You probably should since everyone will be on Oklahoma State, but I'm an idiot).
Pick: Oklahoma State -11