Wednesday of Champ Week continues with a late-night slate featuring the SEC, Big 12 and ACC, among others.
Our staff has three best bets for Wednesday to help you with your betting card.
Read below for their top three college basketball late-night best bets, picks, predictions and odds for Wednesday, March 12.
(There's also a parlay option below, too, even though that's not our official recommendation.)
College Basketball Late-Night 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 |
|---|---|---|
  | 9 p.m. | |
  | 11:30 p.m. | |
  | 11:30 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. | ||
Seton Hall vs. Villanova
By John Feltman
The Big East Tournament kicks off on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, and we have a rock fight set to cap off the evening between Villanova and Seton Hall.
KenPom projects the total at 131, but as of Wednesday morning, the market currently sits at 126.5. The number appears to continue to steam down, so I recommend grabbing that now.
Both teams ranked outside the top 320 in adjusted tempo, and the Pirates' offense is coming off a historically bad season. The Wildcats' defense ranks 120th in adjusted defensive efficiency, but it gets a massive boost in a plus matchup.
The Pirates ranked outside the top 300 in almost every offensive metric, including adjusted efficiency.
There's been zero consistency throughout the season, and they’re also one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country.
Head coach Kyle Neptune’s Cats realize that they need to rattle off a couple of convincing victories to position themselves back on the bubble, and even that might not be enough.
But it must begin tonight, and I don’t see any reason why the Cats don’t completely dominate.
Besides their horrific offense, the Pirates are pesky defensively. They force a lot of turnovers, and they play extremely tough.
It’s been a lost season for Shaheen Holloway’s team, so I expect a valiant effort on the defensive side of the ball on Wednesday. It has all of the makings of a snail race, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Neptune’s squad struggle out of the gate.
This is more of a fade of the Pirates' offense, but if the game gets out of hand late, I’d much rather take my chances by targeting the complete game total.
Many clocks should be churning in this one, and I think it’s a good spot for an under.
Pick: Under 126.5 (Play to 125)
Montana vs. Northern Colorado
These are the Big Sky’s two best rim-and-3 defenses, which is imperative in a matchup between two dominant rim-and-3 offenses.
But the metrics really spell a story of two good drop-coverage defenses that are elite in catch-and-shoot denial. Underneath that are two guard-and-wing heavy teams with little-to-no rim protection.
On the flip side, you have two guard-and-wing heavy offenses with all the dribble-penetration skills to attack off the bounce and earn consistent offense at the rim.
Northern Colorado’s Langston Reynolds and Isaiah Hawthorne are legit downhill creators off the wing (combined 18 paint points per game). Meanwhile, Montana has three legit dribble-isolation creators out of the backcourt in Brandon Whitney, Money Williams and Kai Johnson.
While these two are known for their spacing and shot-making, these two offenses make hay by using downhill-driving rim-attacks to open up drive-and-dish opportunities.
I’m reasonably confident that both offenses will earn enough consistent at-the-rim offense for 40 minutes to cash an over in the mid-140s.
Northern Colorado scored 52 paint points in the first head-to-head meeting by shooting 26-for-37 (70%) in the paint. Montana shot 21-for-34 (62%) from inside the arc in the second head-to-head meeting, including 17-for-28 (61%) in the paint.
Sure, both teams will eventually have to make some shots. But with both offenses wreaking havoc at the rim, both defenses should sag off a bit as the game progresses, thus opening up the perimeter for two excellent shot-making teams with a bevy of marksmen.
Plus, this number seems low. Both regular-season meetings closed with a total above 153. And while I understand neutral-court unders are a thing, most projection systems have this over in the mid-150s, including our Action PRO Model (153.5).
Pick: Over 146.5 (Play to 149)
Cal Poly vs. UC Davis
By Ky McKeon
An under bet on Cal Poly is a scary proposition. The Mustangs play at the nation’s fastest offensive pace, and scoring has gone ballistic in their games down the stretch of the season.
But UC Davis is the fire extinguisher to Cal Poly’s flame. The Aggies handled the Mustangs in both matchups this year (albeit once without two of Poly’s best players) and can do so again in Henderson.
Davis completely took the air out of Poly’s tires in the last matchup, holding the game to just 61 possessions — by far Poly’s low of the season.
