Top College Basketball Picks for Wednesday, January 12 (2022)
Yesterday, we swept the board. Let’s do that again today!
If only it were that easy, right?
Anyway, Wednesday slates are always the most exciting in college basketball because most conferences and teams schedule games on Wednesdays because it’s right, smack, in the middle of the week, allowing all teams to then play again on the weekend.
So after looking through the entire slate, I’ve finally found my three favorite bets for January 12.
All odds via BettingPros consensus
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Longwood vs. Radford: Longwood -125
(6:30 PM ET tip)
The Longwood Lancers haven’t played a D1 game in a long time, but that didn’t stop Longwood from dominating a non D1 opponent by scoring 109 points in that game.
Longwood has an effective field goal percentage of 51.3 percent while earning 35.6 percent offensive rebounds. The Lancers have also hit 36.7 percent from three and don’t shy away from three-point shots when given the opportunity. Radford, on the other hand, fouls a lot and struggles to defend the three. And while Radford is solid on the defensive glass, Longwood will be a big challenge for them, as Longwood has averaged 35.6 percent offensive rebounds, as noted earlier.
On top of that, Radford’s offense is ranked 294th in the nation in offensive efficiency via KenPom, and the Highlanders turn the ball over 24.2 percent of the time. So give me Longwood in tonight’s Big South matchup.
Villanova vs Xavier: Villanova -110
(6:30 PM ET tip)
There’s value any time you can get Villanova at -110 odds on the moneyline. The Wildcats are ranked fourth in the nation via KenPom and have a top 20 offense and defense this season. Usually, when a team is top 20 in both categories, it means that they’re a March Madness National Championship contender.
The Wildcats won’t get to the foul line often but should keep Xavier off the line at a high rate as well in this game. Villanova will win the turnover battle, knowing Xavier has turned the ball over 19.2 percent of the time. Plus, in a close game, I’d rather have the Wildcats, who are shooting nearly 80 percent from the foul line this season.
LSU vs. Florida: LSU +100
(7:00 PM ET tip)
LSU has lost just one game this season, and that’s to Auburn. Auburn is clearly the best team in the SEC after knocking off Alabama on the road. But that basically means that LSU is still a top team in the nation and the SEC. Now they’ll take on Florida on the road, and it’ll be an intriguing game for LSU.
In the SEC, you have to win at home. But if you can get a few big road games on the resume, it’s that much sweeter when the rankings and seedings come out.
LSU is the best defense in the nation, holding opponents to a 41.3 percent effective field goal percentage while also earning 26.1 percent turnovers on the defensive end. Florida already shoots just 31.2 percent from long range this season, so that’s not going to bode well for the Gators against LSU’s tough defense.
Give me LSU to win this game outright.
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Jason Radowitz is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him @Jason_Radowitz.