Three top-25 matchups highlight Tuesday's college basketball slate, and we're searching for the best betting value for the sake of this piece.
So, without further ado, below we have college basketball best bets, including four NCAAB expert picks and predictions for Tuesday, February 11.
(And there's also a parlay option if you choose to take that route.)
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. | |
  | 9 p.m. | |
  | 9 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. | ||
Purdue vs. Michigan
Michigan has been a solid home team all season, and this is a perfect revenge spot against Purdue, a team that beat the Wolverines by nearly 30 points earlier in the campaign.
The Wolverines remain in the mix for the Big Ten regular season title, trailing the Boilermakers by a half-game. This is the perfect opportunity to make a statement and take command in the league, especially with Purdue have a tough schedule (Wisconsin, Michigan State) on deck.
Vlad Goldin will have a monster outing against Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst in a sold out Crisler Center.
#GoBlue
Pick: Michigan ML -125
UCLA vs. Illinois
UCLA is one of the hottest teams in college basketball right now, as the Bruins have turned their season around with seven straight victories, including massive wins against Michigan State, Oregon and Wisconsin.
But this isn't a great spot for them, starting with the travel aspect.
They have to travel two time zones to face Illinois, a team that, when at full strength and playing to its peak, is a top-five offense in the country.
UCLA is elite defensively (eighth in KenPom's defensive efficiency metric), but facing the pick-and-roll duo of Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic is a much different task altogether for Mick Cronin's bunch.
How Eric Dailey Jr., Tyler Bilodeau and Aday Mara match up against the Illini's size and Ivisic's pick-and-pop ability is ultimately going to decide how this game finishes. Truly, I don't believe any of those three have the ability to defend Ivisic on the perimeter, creating a huge matchup advantage for Illinois.
It doesn't end there, though. While the Bruins' guards have been much better during this seven-game stretch, they have a serious step up in competition against Jakucionis and Kylan Boswell.
Illinois is the much better team, Ivisic is a massive mismatch and the Bruins are eventually due for a letdown-type of game. This is that game, especially in a tough travel spot.
Pick: Illinois -6.5
UConn vs. Creighton
I almost always take the under when these two teams meet.
Six of the past seven head-to-head meetings have stayed under the closing total, with the one outlier being last year’s matchup in Omaha when the Bluejays went nuclear from deep (14-for-28 3-point shooting).
The core tenant of my handicap is two secondary motion-based offenses battling two elite 3-point denial defenses.
Dan Hurley’s pattern-motion offense has been nearly unstoppable over the past few years, but the Huskies have never broken the KalkDrop.
Anchored by Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton’s drop-coverage defense funnels ball-handlers into the mid-range areas, and UConn has never been comfortable in on-ball middle-of-the-court creation.
Conversely, Creighton runs a four-out, one-in offense, funneling creation through Kalkbrenner in the post while running shooters — Steven Ashworth and Jamiya Neal — around perimeter off-ball screening actions.
UConn is weaker than ever in the post this year. However, the Huskies are still the nation’s best catch-and-shoot denial defense (12 jumpers allowed per game, lowest nationally, per Synergy), which will help stifle Creighton’s perimeter attack and force more hook shots than open triples.
In addition, Connecticut is injured. Hassan Diarra isn’t 100%, Solo Ball has a wrist issue and Liam McNeeley is still working his way back to full health after his injury.
As an aside, McNeeley’s return should help UConn’s defense, as he’s the best option against Neal, who scored 24 points in the mid-January head-to-head meeting.
But it still might not matter, given that the game saw 131 points scored after the total closed at 145.
Meanwhile, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott recently said his team is “running on fumes” (per Jordan Majewski of Staring at the Floorboards), which makes sense following nine straight victories.
Between the injuries and the grind of conference play, both teams could look sluggish here.
UConn is an elite transition-denial defense, and neither team spends much time running in the open court. So, we could see a snail’s pace, especially after the first head-to-head meeting landed on an absurd 56 possessions.
Pick: Under 142.5 (Play to 142)
Georgia vs. Texas A&M
By Sean Paul
There won’t be a ton of points in this contest.
Georgia has a mediocre offense, ranking 73rd in KenPom’s offensive efficiency metric.
The Bulldogs turn the ball over 19% of the time, feeding into Texas A&M’s 20.9% turnover rate.
The Aggies struggle to score on their first shot, posting the 280th-best effective field goal percentage in America.
But their offense rebounding (41% offensive rebound rate) tends to bail them out.
However, Georgia is a great defensive rebounding team and should take away A&M’s main strength.
Moreover, both teams rank outside the top 200 in adjusted tempo.
Points will be at a premium in this SEC tilt on Tuesday.
Pick: Under 139.5 (Play to 135)
