Eli Hershkovich is an Action Network contributor and produces/hosts the You Better You Bet Podcast on RADIO.COM Sports.
With eight ranked teams in action tonight, let’s break down Iowa State at No. 2 Baylor and No. 4 Auburn at Alabama, as both games presents excellent situational spots.
Wednesday College Basketball Odds & Picks
Odds as of Wednesday morning and via FanDuel, where Action Network users get a risk-free bet up to $500.
Iowa State at Baylor
- Odds: Baylor -8.5
- Over/Under: 140
- Time: 8 p.m. EST
- TV: ESPN+
The Bears return home after racking up an outright win at Kansas as a road dog (+7.5) on Saturday, and the market has overreacted as a result.
Iowa State covered for the third time in its past six games with a straight-up victory vs. Oklahoma, and 6-foot-5 star Tyrese Haliburton looked like himself (15 points, 8 assists) after he missed a home loss to Florida A&M with a sprained left wrist.
Haliburton is at his best as a playmaker off the dribble drive, and Baylor allows its highest percentage of points inside the arc (52.1%).
Given the Bears are facing a Cyclones’ team that’s scoring the 88th-highest percentage of points inside the arc, Haliburton and Co. can hang around in this one offensively.
Baylor's 3-point attack could give Iowa State issues, considering the Cyclones present a bottom-30 perimeter defense. But I’m expecting a letdown performance from Baylor in this one after the program’s first win at Allen Fieldhouse in over five decades.
The Cyclones’ 12.5% block rate should also present opportunities to push the pace and disrupt the Bears’ slow-paced offense, especially against Baylor’s struggling interior attack (47.8% 2-point shooting).
Pick: Iowa State +9
Auburn at Alabama
- Odds: Auburn -2.5
- Over/Under: 159
- Time: 9 p.m. EST
- TV: ESPN2
Welcome back to home dog season. The Crimson Tide are officially invited.
I’ll fade the undefeated Tigers once again, in which they present zero matchup advantages against an Alabama squad that’s starting to discover its identity under first-year coach Nate Oats.
The Tide, who've covered nine straight games, are generating the 29th-highest 3-point scoring rate (38.5%) across Division I. Auburn’s perimeter has quietly regressed in SEC play, allowing opponents to shoot 36.7% from behind the arc.
With Oats’ bunch playing at a tempo that should deliver over 70 possessions, look for his team to generate its fair share of clean looks from that vicinity.
While Bruce Pearl’s unit could pose an edge on the glass, these teams are roughly even in size. Look for an extra motivated Alabama team to show up in the rebounding department after many of its players experienced a pair of losses to its in-state rival last season.
The Tigers’ typically poor 3-point shooting has reversed its course in a pair of their SEC wins (at Mississippi State, vs. Georgia), but that’ll come to a halt against Oats’ above-average perimeter defense.
Pick: Alabama +2.5
