Top 3 College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions: Tuesday (2/25)

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It’s the final Tuesday in February of the 2024-25 NCAA Men’s College Basketball regular season. We’re hurtling toward March Madness. Let’s start rolling up some winners and build our bankroll for the NCAA Tournament and beyond.

Here are our best college basketball picks for Tuesday, February 25th.

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Tuesday’s Best College Basketball Picks

Last Week: 2-4 (33.3%, -250) | Season: 37-31 (54.4%, +328) | Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All picks are for 1 unit

Northwestern Wildcats (+118) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (-142) | O/U 130.5 (-115/-105)

The Wildcats (14-13, 5-11 Big Ten) hit the road for the Twin Cities to tangle with the Golden Gophers (14-13, 6-10) on Tuesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed or streamed on Peacock.

Northwestern is coming off a massive 70-49 victory at Ohio State on Thursday as a 9-point underdog as the under (144) cashed. The total has gone low in the past two games for the Wildcats after a 14-game over run from December 21st to February 11th. Despite the cover as a big underdog against the Buckeyes, the Wildcats are still just 2-6 against the spread (ATS) in their previous eight outings, so be careful.

Minnesota heads into this game looking to rebound from a 69-60 home loss to Penn State. That loss splashed cold water on the momentum from a SoCal sweep of UCLA and USC. The Golden Gophers are 3-2 ATS in the past five games, but just 3-4 ATS in the previous seven. The under has hit three in a row and five of the past seven.

We have some prolific scorers in this game. Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli is averaging 19.7 points per game (PPG), while Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia is good for 19.4 PPG. Brooks Barnhizer of the Wildcats is averaging 17.1 PPG, too, while pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game (RPG). The number here is rather low considering the type of firepower we have on both sides, although this certainly won’t be mistaken for a track meet, either. Go high on the total and let’s side with Northwestern coming off of its big win against Ohio State.

Picks: Northwestern +2.5 (-114) & Over 130.5 Points (-115)

Illinois State Redbirds (-108) at Southern Illinois Salukis (-111) | O/U 146.5 (-115/-105)

The Redbirds (17-12, 9-9 Missouri Valley) travel to meet the Salukis (12-17, 7-11), a team near the basement in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). However, this is a rivalry game, too, so expect things to be rather tight, at least initially. Tip-off time is 8:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

Illinois State comes in with a pair of victories after a three-game skid, including a 70-68 win at Missouri State last time out, although it just missed covering as a 3-point favorite. The Redbirds are still a respectable 5-3-1 ATS in the past nine games and 4-2 ATS in the past six on the road, including covers against Bradley and Drake, two of the better teams in the MVC.

More importantly for the boys from Normal, the over has cashed in four consecutive games, while going 7-1 in the past eight outings and 11-2 across the past 13 contests since January 11th.

Southern Illinois limps in with a four-game losing streak while going 0-3-1 ATS in that span since February 12th. The under is 5-1 in the past six outings, but that lone over was last time out in a close 83-79 loss to Valparaiso on this very same court. The Salukis’ defense has struggled, allowing 73+ points in three of the past four games and seven of the previous 10 outings.

In this series, Illinois State and Southern Illinois have split the past four meetings, while the Salukis have a 6-2 straight up (SU) edge in the previous eight contests. However, Illinois State is 3-1 ATS in the past four in the series, and it is the better team this season. Back the Redbirds. Since the over is 6-1 in the past seven in the series, let’s lean high on the total, but don’t go overboard and bet a lot. A reasonable same-game parlay (SGP) here is the play.

Picks: Illinois State -1.5 (-120) & Over 146.5 Points (-115)

Wyoming Cowboys (+680) at Nevada Wolf Pack (-1100) | O/U 132.5 (-110/-110)

The Cowboys (12-16, 5-12 Mountain West) hit the road for Reno to battle the Wolf Pack (15-12, 7-9) at the Lawlor Events Center at 10:00 p.m. ET. You’ll have to do some work to find this game on television, as it isn’t available on most national networks, but likely can be streamed on one of the school sites.

Nevada limps in with a pair of back-to-back losses at Colorado State and home to Boise State. They also failed to cover both of those outings as the over cashed in each game. It halted some momentum from the Wolf Pack, as they had won three in a row, albeit against bottom feeders from Air Force, Fresno State and San Jose State. Still, it can’t be ignored that Nevada is 4-2 ATS in the past six games. The over is 5-1 in that span, too.

For Wyoming, I’ll go back to it again, even though last week it let me down in a win and non-cover against Air Force. The Cowboys are coming off an 82-73 loss at home to San Jose State. They are 0-3 ATS in the past three games and 1-4 ATS in the previous five outings.

So, why go with the Cowboys? This team beat the Wolf Pack straight up in Laramie on December 28th, 66-63, cashing as a 5.5-point underdog as the under (133.5) cashed. Yes, that’s nearly two full months ago, but Nevada has no business laying double digits to anyone. And, as a favorite of eight or more points, Nevada is 2-4 ATS in the past six tries.

I fully expect Nevada to avenge that loss from earlier in the season, but take Wyoming catching the points. Let’s also go with the over, as it is on a 5-1 run for Nevada and has cashed in three straight for the Cowboys.

Picks: Wyoming +12.5 (-102) & Over 132.5 Points (-110)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Tuesday:

Daniel E. Dobish is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Daniel, check out his archive and follow him @danieledobish.