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Top College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions: Wednesday (1/3)

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It’s early January, so we’re effectively in conference play in college basketball!

With so many games on the slate, finding valuable bets can be overwhelming. But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

Here are some bets to consider for tonight’s college basketball slate.

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    Wednesday’s College Basketball Best Bets

    Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All wagers are for 1 unit

    North Carolina State vs. Notre Dame

    The Notre Dame Fighting Irish just knocked off Virginia, 76-54 on Saturday. But let’s not get too carried away. Notre Dame is still 6-7 on the season and has losses to teams like The Citadel and Western Carolina on their home floor.

    They’ll take on a North Carolina State squad with no bad losses. They’ve lost to BYU, Ole Miss, and Tennessee, and while the Wolfpack don’t have any massive wins, they’re taking care of business against bad teams.

    The Wolfpack have limited turnovers to 13.2% and nailed 35% from deep while hitting 52.4% inside the arc. North Carolina State won’t get to the foul line at a high rate, but they’ll surely shoot it better than Notre Dame.

    The Fighting Irish have shot a 46.6% effective field goal percentage while nailing only 28.2% from downtown. They’re also weak at getting to the foul line and turn the ball over more than 20% of the time.

    Take the Wolfpack at -4.5.

    Bet: North Carolina State -4.5 (-110)

    California vs. USC

    The California Bears are just 4-9 on the season. They’ve got some brutal losses to Pacific, Montana State, UTEP, and Tulane. Most recently, California lost to Arizona State at home, 71-69.

    They’ll take on an underperforming USC Trojans squad that is only 6-7 on the year. USC had lots of hype with young, highly-touted prospects coming into the season. But the Trojans’ best win came against Kansas State and Seton Hall on neutral courts. They’ve already begun the season 0-2 in Pac-12 play.

    It’s still likely that USC will take control of this game at home. The Bears have given up a 51.6% effective field goal percentage, watching teams shoot 36.8% from three. California has also allowed a lot of foul shots to begin the season, which is something USC is really good at earning on the offensive side of the ball.

    While California could haul in some offensive rebounds against USC, the Bears have only shot 32.9% from three and 51.2% from inside this season. That’s not good enough to stick around with USC, especially when the Trojans will add more points at the charity stripe.

    On the other hand, the Trojans have turned the ball over 19.5% of the time. But with California only adding 15.3% of turnovers, the Trojans should be able to minimize mistakes and get more shots up. With USC shooting at a higher percentage, the more shots that go up, the better for USC.

    Let’s back USC at -8.5. The Trojans will earn their first Pac-12 matchup tonight.

    Bet: USC -8.5 (-110)

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

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