Champ Week is heating up as the SEC, Big East and Big Ten, among others, get their conference tournaments going on Wednesday.
For the sake of this piece, our staff has some juicy plays for you for the college basketball afternoon slate.
So, read below for NCAAB best bets and odds, including three afternoon college basketball picks and predictions for Wednesday, March 12.
(There's a parlay option below if you so choose to take these picks that way.)
College Basketball Best Bets for Wednesday Afternoon
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 |
|---|---|---|
  | 11:30 a.m. | |
  | 1 p.m. | |
| 1 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. | ||
Richmond vs. Davidson
By Sean Paul
The two coldest teams in the A-10 will meet to begin the conference tournament on Wednesday. The Davidson Wildcats and Richmond Spiders each enter on a four-game losing streak.
In the first two meetings between these teams, the Wildcats took care of business by at least six points in both games.
Although Davidson has a different McKillop running the show, the young Matt McKillop follows the same core offensive principles as his father, Bob, did.
The Wildcats specialize at cutting. Everyone on the floor is willing to move off the ball, which can cause real defensive problems.
They score an impressive 1.278 points per possession on cuts, per Synergy. In contrast, Richmond ranks in the eighth percentile defensively versus cuts. Expect a steady diet of lanes to the hoop for Davidson.
Davidson wants to move the ball and always has a skilled big who can shoot.
The skilled big in this iteration is All-Atlantic 10 selection Reed Bailey, who averaged just shy of 20 points per game during the regular season. He's very capable of erupting for 25-plus points and can single-handedly shift this game in the Wildcats' favor.
Davidson's offense isn't great, but it's not a slouch, either. It ranks 111th in KenPom's offensive efficiency and shoots 34% from 3, with 41% of its shots coming from distance.
The shooting can be very difficult to contain with the movement and cutting this offense utilizes.
Bailey is one of three Davidson players averaging 14-plus points per game, joined by veteran guard Connor Kochera and sharpshooting wing Bobby Durkin.
Durkin, the 6-foot-7 wing, has a little playmaking in his game, too, tallying four-plus assists in five straight games.
The Spiders are a mess on both ends, ranking 234th and 226th in offensive and defensive efficiency, respectively. They shoot a lot of 3s (45% 3-point rate) and shoot 30% from 3.
The two starting guards on Richmond's roster — B. Artis White and Mikkel Tyne — are both smaller guards and shoot just 27% from deep. That's a rough tandem. I don't have much faith in the duo holding up against a much more talented Davidson backcourt.
With DeLonnie Hunt's injury, Richmond has just one player — Dusan Neskovic — who averages more than 7.8 points per game. That's pretty brutal, but it makes sense given the Spiders' lack of top-tier talent and very deliberate tempo.
I just think Davidson is better from top to bottom. This Richmond team is very unimpressive and isn't particularly good at anything.
The number is pretty fair. I would have set it around Davidson -7, so I'll roll with the Wildcats to cover.
Pick: Davidson -5.5 (Play to -7)
South Carolina vs. Arkansas
Despite the fact they’ll be without Adou Thiero, I’m backing the Hogs to get it done in this first-round SEC Tournament matchup.
Thiero is the Razorbacks’ best player, especially on offense. But the Hogs have played just fine without him, thrice reaching the 90-point mark in his four-game stead (Missouri, Vanderbilt, Texas).
In the fourth matchup, Arkansas scored 53 points in a 19-point blowout loss to these South Carolina Gamecocks.
That said, I’m looking to back the Hogs in this semi-revenge game, partially because I expect a much better shooting performance.
Arkansas shot 3-for-22 (13%) from deep in that game, and ShotQuality graded it as an analytically expected Razorback win.
From a schematic perspective, I’m a little worried about the Hogs' offense, given they’re so transition-reliant, and the Gamecocks play at a plodding pace and are typically good at slowing opposing teams down with their transition denial.
That said, Arkansas is typically good in its roll-man creation, especially with Zvonimir Ivisic as a stretch-five who can step out and make nearly 40% of his triples.
That could be a problem for South Carolina, which funnels roll-man creation and does a terrible job at defending it (1.14 PPP allowed, 15th percentile, per Synergy).
On the other end of the court, the Gamecocks run a methodical, interior-based offense through stud leading scorer Collin Murray-Boyles.
That could also be a problem for South Carolina, as the Razorbacks have evolved into an upper-echelon SEC interior defense (48% 2-point shooting allowed, fourth in SEC, per KenPom).
On a neutral court with typical shooting splits, I have faith in the Thiero-less Hogs to grit out a win in a decent schematic matchup.
For what it’s worth, South Carolina is 2-11 away from Columbia this year and ranks 359th nationally in Haslametrics' away-from-home metric.
Pick: Arkansas ML -150
South Carolina vs. Arkansas
The South Carolina Gamecocks and the Arkansas Razorbacks will clash from Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday afternoon.
South Carolina comes into the contest with a record of 12-19 (2-16 in SEC play).
South Carolina native Murray-Boyles leads the team with 16.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Arkansas enters the game with a record of 19-12. The Razorbacks went 8-10 in the SEC, winning two consecutive games to end the season.
