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College Basketball Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Wednesday (2/15)

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All six teams involved in our three best bets college basketball bets of the day are either locks for the NCAA tournament (and are playing for seeding/conference titles) or are squarely on the bubble and need additional resume-building victories. Our three picks focus on some of the biggest games from the power conferences, with a look at Big East, SEC, and Big Ten battles.

Here are our best bets for Wednesday’s college basketball action.

  • YTD (as of 1/21): 28-20

Check out all of our best bets for Wednesday:

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Best College Basketball Bets for Wednesday

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)

Xavier vs. Marquette Spread

Marquette entered the week as the favorite to win the Big East regular season title at DraftKings (-110), with Creighton slightly behind at +130 odds. The Golden Eagles have a massive opportunity to take the next step toward that title in this clash with Xavier. We expect Marquette to play inspired at home with so much on the line in this one, as it would fall a half-game behind Xavier and not own the head-to-head tiebreaker, having lost to the Musketeers at the Cintas Center earlier this season.

Xavier point guard Souley Boum will likely still be hampered by an ankle injury he suffered in last Friday’s loss at Butler. Boum is an integral part of what Xavier does offensively, as he ranks in the top 101 of all players nationally in offensive player rating and percentage of minutes played.

Six Musketeers scored in double figures in the first meeting between these teams. However, with leading scorer Boum limited and second-leading scorer forward Zach Freemantle (15.2 points, 8.1 rebounds) still out with a foot injury, Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart will be able to dial up a more effective defensive game plan.

Marquette is the ninth-most profitable team in the country from an ATS perspective, covering 68% of its games (17-8-1 ATS record). Thus, we expect it to defend its home court in a big way tonight.

Bet: Marquette -5.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State ML

Mississippi State is playing its best basketball of the season, and its five-game winning streak is the longest current winning streak among all SEC teams. The Bulldogs have a strong case for an at-large NCAA tournament berth, owning a neutral site win over Marquette, a road win at Arkansas, and a home victory against TCU. They have three Quad 1 wins in total and face a Kentucky team that has struggled against elite competition. The Wildcats own a 1-7 Quad 1 record and are 15-2 against everyone else.

Mississippi State ranks fourth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (per KenPom) and forces an SEC-best 23.4% turnover rate in league play. Kentucky needed overtime to beat the Bulldogs at Rupp Arena last year, and Mississippi State is a profitable 10-6-1 ATS on 2-3 days of rest this season. So while the Wildcats get most of the betting attention as one of the sport’s biggest blue bloods, we are backing an under-the-radar Bulldogs team in a mid-season resurgence.

Bet: Mississippi State ML (-150 at DraftKings)

Indiana vs. Northwestern O/U

Indiana has had its ups and downs defensively this year and is currently amid one of its better stretches, holding opponents to fewer than 70 points in seven of its last nine victories. However, not many of those opponents had a backcourt as talented as Northwestern’s, and the senior duo of Boo Buie and Chase Audige was a matchup nightmare for the Hoosiers in the first meeting.

When these teams met on January 8th at Assembly Hall, they combined for 167 points. The 84 points were Northwestern’s highest-scoring output in a Big Ten game this season, and Buie and Audige combined for 45 points, going 13-of-25 from 2-point range and 13-of-16 from the free throw line.

Look for Wildcats head coach Chris Collins to continue to space the floor for Buie and Audige and isolate them in mismatches to take advantage of their elite playmaking abilities. In addition, Northwestern doubles the post at the highest rate in the country with Chris Lowery running their defensive play-calling, but that did not stop Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis from scoring 18 points and attempting 19 shots from the floor in the first meeting.

The Over is 14-10-1 in Indiana’s 25 games and has cashed in eight of Northwestern’s 14 league games. There is a chance that the Wildcats are sluggish after one of the biggest wins in school history over then-No. 1 Purdue, which also has us favoring a high-scoring game.

Bet: Indiana vs. Northwestern Over 134.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.

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