Top College Basketball Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Tuesday, January 17th (2022)

A 5-1 run over the last two days of picks has us heading into a new week with plenty of momentum. With today’s picks, we have identified one of the “fishier” lines of the day while also analyzing the point spread involving the top-ranked team in the country and wagering on a total in an SEC rivalry game.

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

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(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)

Best College Basketball Bets for Tuesday

Houston vs. Tulane Spread

Houston is in a class of its own in the AAC, as it is the top-ranked team in the NET rankings, and no other team from the league resides in the top 42. However, this road matchup against a Tulane team should pose issues for Kelvin Sampson’s squad and should result in the Cougars’ third game decided by single digits of its last five played.

Houston’s only loss this season was on its home floor to Alabama, as the Crimson Tide’s fourth-fastest tempo forced the Cougars into ten turnovers and 23% shooting (3-for-13) from 3-point range. Tulane is less talented than the Crimson Tide, but its frenetic pace (sixth-fastest tempo in the country) will take Houston out of its comfort zone, as it plays at the 335th-slowest pace. In addition, Tulane only committed four turnovers in its home loss to Houston last year. It typically plays clean basketball this season, committing turnovers at the country’s fourth-lowest rate (14.1%).

Tulane has covered in each of its last five games, and we expect it to end Houston’s five-game road cover streak.

Bet: Tulane +10 (-110 at DraftKings) 

Georgia vs. Kentucky O/U

Kentucky’s upset of Tennessee this weekend could be a season-defining win, not just that it is a huge resume builder for a Wildcats team that lacked big wins, but what the team learned about themselves in the process. Kentucky was without Daimion Collins (foot) and Sahvir Wheeler (shoulder) and overcame a scoreless 21 minutes from Cason Wallace, as he had left the game periodically to deal with an injury. However, playing Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, CJ Fredrick, and Antonio Reeves all 30+ minutes may have been a blessing in disguise for the Wildcats, who found a renowned defensive identity and held the Volunteers to 3-for-21 shooting from deep.

We expect John Calipari to use similar rotations and build off what worked well against Tennessee. However, the Wildcats offense still has a much lower ceiling as long as Wheeler remains out, and they are coming off committing 19 turnovers in the last game.

The Under has cashed in five of Kentucky’s last seven games against teams with a winning record, and we expect it to cash again tonight.

Bet: Georgia-Kentucky Under 136 (-110 at DraftKings)

Clemson vs. Wake Forest Spread

The “fishiest line of the day” award goes to this ACC battle. Clemson is one of the biggest surprises in the country after being picked to finish 11th in the ACC preseason poll. But, taking nothing away from its historic 7-0 start in conference play (its best in program history), perhaps oddsmakers believe regression is coming and are willing to ignore the Tigers’ 20-point home rout of the Demon Deacons to open conference play in December.

Wake Forest has lost ten of its last 11 games against Clemson. However, the Demon Deacons forced 19 turnovers in that first meeting, and Clemson was 24-for-25 from the foul line, something it would be hard-pressed to replicate. We expect Wake Forest to lean on a top-20 effective field goal percentage to perform better offensively than it did in the first meeting.

The favorite is 7-3 ATS in the last ten meetings between these teams, and we like that trend to continue in this rivalry game.

Bet: Wake Forest -2 (-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.