Top 3 College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (12/20)
Tonight, the Cincinnati Bearcats and Dayton Flyers meet in a top-25 matchup to kick off the weekend. Who has the advantage in that game? I also take a look at the 2 p.m. ET game between the Houston Christian Huskies and the Texas A&M Aggies and a night game between the St. John's Red Storm and the Providence Friars.
Here are the best college basketball picks for Friday, December 20.
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Friday’s Best College Basketball Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Cincinnati vs. Dayton
This spread is honestly unbelievable. The Bearcats enter this game with an 8-1 record, but they haven't beaten anybody this season, and they have an ugly eight-point loss to the Villanova Wildcats on their resume.
Meanwhile, the Flyers are 10-2. Their two losses are to the North Carolina Tar Heels and Iowa State Cyclones, and they've beaten the UConn Huskies and Marquette Golden Eagles. While the Tar Heels aren't very good this season, the Cyclones rank third in the country, and Dayton only lost to them by five.
The Flyers are a battle-tested team, while the Bearcats aren't. To this point, the Bearcats’ only remotely good win is against the Xavier Musketeers. Six of their other seven wins have been over teams that don't even qualify as Mid-Majors. You could take the spread to play it safe, but I'm taking the Flyers to win this game outright.
Pick: Dayton Moneyline (+140)
Houston Christian vs. Texas A&M
The Aggies enter this game as winners of five straight. During that run, they've defeated the Creighton Bluejays and Purdue Boilermakers. While they will certainly be happy to see Houston Christian today, this spread may be a bit too large.
The Aggies have beaten only one team by more than 31 points, and that victory came back on November 8th when they beat East Texas A&M by 32. The Huskies won't be able to compete in this game, as evidenced by their 35-point loss to Creighton and their 31-point loss to the Texas Longhorns earlier this season.
While the Aggies could certainly win this game by more than 30, they're only averaging 74.6 points per game this season. Therefore, while they're going to win this game in blowout fashion, they won't score enough to nearly double the score of the Huskies.
Pick: Houston Christian +31 (-110)
St. John's vs. Providence
Though neither of these teams is ranked, this is one of the best games of the day. The Friars are coming off a 74-70 loss to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, and have lost five of their last seven games.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm have won four games in a row by double figures, and their two losses this season were by a combined four points. On paper, this looks like a game the Red Storm will dominate, but they are going on the road for their first true road game of the season.
The Friars may be in a bit of a slump right now, but only two of their five losses have been by more than six points. Though the Red Storm are better than them this year, they're catching St. John's at a good time. I think the home-court advantage will make a huge difference in this game. The Friars won't win, but they'll keep it close.
Pick: Providence +6.5 (-112)
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.