I can say with almost complete certainty that you weren't getting psyched up to bet Idaho-Southern Utah when you looked at today's college basketball board. For that matter, you might've overlooked South Florida-Houston as well.
But while today's headlining matchups might've come earlier in the day, it's been those two games quietly drawing the most action from sharp bettors. Here's how they're playing them.
>> All odds as of 1 p.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time college basketball odds and track your bets.
Idaho @ Southern Utah
4 p.m. ET | Pluto TV
Sharp angle: Under (moved from 141 to 140)
This line opened at a consensus 141, and hasn't drawn much overall action from bettors (shocker). It's important to keep that in mind when breaking down sharp action, though, especially when it comes to betting percentages.
Normally, reverse line movement — when the line moves away from the popular side — serves as a dead giveaway of sharp action. In a case like this, though, the popular side isn't necessarily made up of recreational bettors. Odds are, there's good chunk of the people betting this game know what they're doing, so the contrarian side probably isn't any more likely to be the sharp side.
With that said, this under has attracted 54% of bets thus far. With that fairly balanced action, the line move is somewhat significant, but the real kicker has come from Sports Insights' Bet Signals.
Five signals — triggered by market-wide line movement as a result of sharp action — have hit the under, more than any other play this afternoon.
South Florida @ Houston
6 p.m. ET | ESPN2
Sharp angle: South Florida (moved from +13 to +12)
All right, now for a game you might actually watch. South Florida comes into Houston having lost its last two conference games. Houston, now a top 10 team in the nation, also beat USF by nine when the two met in Tampa last month.
Now on its home court and having a little number "9" next to its name, Houston has drawn 73% of bettors so far. Based on money percentages and Bet Signals, though, sharps don't seem to be among them.
The 27% of bets on USF have generated an impressive 59% of actual money being wagered. And since sharp bettors are more likely to be making bigger bets, that discrepancy points to a hefty sharp backing of the road dog.
Confirming that has been an SI Bet Signal on the Bulls at the opening number. It's important to note that no other signals have come since the line moved to +12, at least at the time of writing.
