Only one top-25 team is in action on Friday in college basketball (No. 22 UCLA), but that doesn't mean there isn't any betting value in the sport.
In fact, I'm targeting three specific games for this slate that you can add to your betting card.
So, here's my college basketball best bets and odds, including three picks and predictions for Friday, January 10.
College Basketball Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Iona vs Fairfield
I backed Iona quite a bit to start the season, with very little success. The Gaels started 2-4 against the number, including multiple embarrassing efforts.
It looked like Iona was overvalued in the market.
Injuries had something to do with that shaky start. Athletic wing Christian Winborne missed the first 11 games, and bruising center Clarence Rupert got hurt early in the Gaels’ 43-point spanking at West Virginia.
As a result, coach Tobin Anderson has been scrambling to find the right combination of players. Iona has used nine different starting lineups in its first 15 games.
The talented Gaels are finally close to full health, though, and a road win at Siena could be the start of a surge in MAAC play.
Winborne is starting to look like the touted transfer prospect he arrived as – Anderson called him the Gaels’ best player in the preseason – and the two-headed center duo of Rupert and Yaphet Moundi has been dominant on the glass.
Iona seems to be trending up. On the contrary, Fairfield is trending poorly. The Stags have lost five games in a row, and they're just 1-4 against the spread over that stretch. They have lost rock fights (67-54 to Merrimack) and shootouts (101-94 to Mount St. Mary’s) alike.
Coach Chris Casey thrived in his first season at Fairfield last year with a veteran core. However, of that team’s top four players, one graduated and the other three play for Northwestern, Oklahoma and North Texas, respectively.
The replacements have been nightmarishly bad defensively.
With Iona ascending and Fairfield struggling, I'll tether this wager to my preseason expectations and bet that Iona continues to improve through MAAC play.
Pick: Iona -1.5 (Play to -3)
Central Michigan vs Toledo
Like the Iona wager, a large part of this handicap is my expectation that Toledo will continue to ascend back to where preseason expectations had the Rockets.
A vicious non-conference schedule stretch (UC San Diego on a neutral, at Houston, at Purdue) put them in a mini funk, but starting league play 2-0 is an encouraging sign that the Rockets are back on track.
Tod Kowalczyk’s Rockets have consistently thrived during the MAC regular season. Over the last four seasons, they've gone a ridiculous 62-14 in conference, and this talented group has the chance to continue that dominance.
For years (and continued this season), the Rockets’ strength as a team is their hyper-efficient offense that consistently creates great looks.
This particular version is somewhat lacking in perimeter shooting; Toledo can shoot, but it doesn't launch many triples. Compared to playing against titans like Purdue and Houston, MAC foes won't be as limiting.
Central Michigan is a solid defensive team — led by ballhawk Anthony Pritchard at point guard — but the Chippewas specifically lack a true rim protector. They have size – 6-foot-10 Ugnius Jarusevicius, 7-foot Hunter Harding – but no player boasts a block rate higher than 2.5%, an extremely pedestrian number.
With Toledo’s offense being so 3-point averse, that’s pivotal.
Finally, Central Michigan’s offense isn't good enough to exploit Toledo’s shaky defense. Beyond Pritchard, the Chippewas sorely lack shot creators, and the entire team has struggled badly to make jump shots.
So long as the smaller Rockets compete on the defensive glass, they can outscore their third straight directional Michigan school.
Pick: Toledo -2.5 (Play to -5)
UCLA vs Maryland
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin made headlines after a Tuesday loss to Michigan, calling out his players as “soft” and “delusional.” Most responses were critical, blasting the coach for not taking responsibility and instead throwing his players under the bus.
However, this is nothing new from Cronin. He speaks his mind in press conferences (sometimes to a fault), and any player signing up to play for him knows this is a possibility.
I believe this will be a rallying point for the Bruins.
Last year, Cronin did something similar after an embarrassing lifeless 46-point loss at Utah. Those Bruins – a much worse squad than this one – ripped off eight wins in their next nine games, with the only loss coming narrowly at top-10 Arizona (UCLA covered).
Certainly, there's some concern about cross-country travel. However, that's somewhat mitigated by Maryland’s own travel; the Terrapins are returning from a Pacific Northwest road trip, albeit with two extra days of rest.
From a matchup sense, these two teams are similar. They both thrive via turnover margin with defensive pressure, and their two-big lineups help them crush the glass.
That stylistic redundancy should lead to a physical war, and in that instance, I'll take the points with the furious Cronin team.
For an added bonus: UCLA lost at home to Maryland last year. Personnel has changed on both sides, but it’s an extra bit of incentive for Bruin veterans Sebastian Mack, Dylan Andrews and Lazar Stefanovic.
Pick: UCLA +4.5 (Play to +3.5)
