Free Picks: NCAA Basketball Wednesday
Free College Basketball Picks
The college basketball regular season is winding down, which means teams are getting desperate to make a last impression for postseason berths. Wednesday night has plenty of games featuring teams fighting for those berths.
Let's take a look at some of those teams for NCAAB Sports Betting, I'm confident I've got a few must-bet winners for you on Wednesday.
Clemson Tigers (-4.5) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons
One team has won three consecutive games while the other has lost three consecutive games. The Clemson Tigers have seemingly rediscovered their mojo from the start of the season, stringing together three impressive wins in a row. Since Jan. 27, the Tigers have defeated Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Georgia Tech, with a loss to the Duke Blue Devils mixed in. Not surprisingly, Aamir Simms has provided the most consistent firepower for Brad Brownell's offense.
The senior big man has averaged 17.6 points per game over his last five contests to go along with seven rebounds and over three assists per game. Simms is also red hot from the floor over the past three weeks, shooting 57.8% overall and 46.7% from behind the arc to go along with 83% from the free-throw line. He is currently inserting himself into the ACC Player of the Year race.
On the flip side of this game, Wake Forest has been sliding for the last three and a half weeks, losing five of its last seven. Perhaps the most damning result during the current slide was a 21-point loss at the hand of Notre Dame.
In four of the last five games, the Demon Deacons have surrendered at least 79 points to their opponents. Clemson is not exactly an offensive juggernaut, but Wake Forest is simply atrocious defensively. One thing to keep in mind is that Clemson is 0-5 against the spread on the road this season, but it is 10-1 as the favorite. Wake Forest, on the other hand, is 10-6 against the spread but just 1-10 straight up as the dog. The Clemson moneyline is likely the safer bet even though the line is fewer than five points. You're going to pay slightly more juice, but it's still a likely win.
Florida State Seminoles (-11.5) at Miami Hurricanes
Staying in the ACC, you have a matchup of arguably the best team in the league traveling to play arguably the worst team in the league. Of course, Miami has been hit harder than possibly any team in the entire country, as there are six players that are unlikely to play in this game.
Those that are expected to be absent include Earl Timberlake, Matt Cross, Rodney Miller, and Sam Waardenburg, who are all out of the rest of the season. In addition, both Harlond Beverly and Chris Lykes are out "indefinitely," with reports surfacing that Lykes is unlikely to play for the rest of the season.
The result of such a devastating amount of injuries was apparent in Miami's most recent game last weekend against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets completely dismantled the Hurricanes, jumping out to a 48-18 halftime lead and cruising to an 87-60 victory.
Meanwhile, Florida State continues to look like the best team in the ACC after a dominating win over the then-seventh-ranked team in the nation, Virginia. In the previous matchup, the Seminoles dominated the Hurricanes in a 22-point win. The Hurricanes were also shorthanded in that game, but they were able to use Beverly in that game. The Seminoles are 9-6-1 against the spread on the season and 12-2 straight up as the favorite. The one drawback is that the Seminoles have only played four games away from home, but Miami is just 6-7 straight-up at home.
As the dog, the Hurricanes are just 4-10 straight-up this season and just 2-6 against the spread in their last eight games. Take the Seminoles to cover the big number. Miami simply does not have the horses to keep up while Leonard Hamilton is going to run nine or 10 players deep and wear the Hurricanes down in the second half.
Marquette Golden Eagles at North Carolina Tar Heels (-8.5)
Let's go for the Atlantic Coast Conference trifecta. The trends are just too strong to ignore in these matchups.
While the North Carolina Tar Heels aren't having their typical season, they are a respectable 14-7 overall and are now 8-5 in the ACC after winning six of their last eight games.
Last Saturday, the Tar Heels completely obliterated the Louisville Cardinals in Chapel Hill in every sense of the word. North Carolina turned it on just before halftime to stretch the lead out to 48-29 at the break. The Tar Heels continued the dominance in the second half en route to a 99-54 victory.
Coach Roy Williams' team is 9-3 straight-up in its last 12 games and 5-2 against the spread in its last seven games. The Tar Heels are undefeated on their home court this season at 8-0 and have covered the spread in five of those eight games. The Tar Heels are catching Marquette at just the right time, as the Golden Eagles are just 2-6 straight-up in their last eight games and just 4-11 against the spread in their last 15 games.
On the road, Marquette is just 3-6 ATS on the season and 3-9 against the spread over their last 12 games on the road dating back to last season. As an underdog, coach Steve Wojciechowski's team is just 3-8 straight up on the season.
The pick here is pretty self-explanatory, as North Carolina is still a very good home team while the Marquette program continues to be untrustworthy under Wojciechowski. Take the Tar Heels to cover at home.
Derek Hudson
Derek is a long time sports bettor who grew up in Providence, RI. Derek is data driven and believes the key to betting the sportsbooks is finding an edge in analytics. Derek is happily married and has two young boys. Derek will bet on anything if you let him.
