Thursday's college basketball slate is interesting when it comes to how the majority of bettors are approaching tonight's games.
Public bettors typically prefer favorites, so these are the teams often dominating the list of most lopsided games on most nights.
However, Thursday's slate actually has an underdog as its most popular public bet, which is quite rare with a schedule as deep as tonight's.
With this in mind, let's break down Thursday night's most popular betting picks.
Thursday College Basketball Odds & Betting Trends
*Odds and public betting trends data as of Thursday afternoon
3 Most Popular College Basketball Favorites
USC (-10.5) vs. Oregon State
11 p.m. ET
USC is a double-digit favorite over Oregon State, and that hasn't stopped the masses from laying the number in this game.
With 92% of the action to this point, the Trojans are Thursday night's most popular college basketball favorite.
Green Bay vs. Illinois Chicago (-8)
8 p.m. ET
Illinois Chicago is next in line, garnering 90% of the spread ticket count so far.
This line is currently Illinois Chicago -8 at PointsBet, which is also where it opened, suggesting that oddsmakers aren't all that concerned about this one-sided action.
Milwaukee (-7) vs. IUPUI
8 p.m. ET
Milwaukee may be just 9-20 on the season, but bettors — 87% to be exact — are having no problem laying points with a bad team when its opponent is 3-23 IUPUI, either.
3 Most Popular College Basketball Underdogs
Portland (+1.5) vs. Pacific
10 p.m. ET
As I mentioned above, casual bettors are falling themselves to get down on a college basketball underdog on Thursday night, and Portland is that dog.
This line is short at just 1.5 points, but 93% of bettors have come in on the Pilots as of the time of writing.
Temple (+12) vs. Memphis
7 p.m. ET
While a tight spread is a popular play in the game above, public bettors are all over Temple as a 12-point underdog against Memphis on Thursday night.
UNC Wilmington (+5) vs. Drexel
7 p.m. ET
UNC Wilmington (19-8 record), which is already a trendy sleeper team among many bettors, is getting five points against 14-12 Drexel?
That's a no-brainer for 78% of bettors, right?
Well, we'll find out later tonight.
