Three Thursday Matchups Getting Pounded by Public Bettors

It's no surprise to see recreational bettors all over today's slate of college basketball tournament matchups. With games all day and major conferences in action, the most heavily-bet college basketball games are attracting huge betting handles, according to our number of bets statistic.

How to Take Advantage of the Public’s Recency Bias in Thursday CBB Betting

Read now

But don't worry, bettors haven't forgotten about NBA action either, as one game on tonight's slate is also taking incredibly one-sided betting action. Here are three basketball sides being pounded, and likely overvalued, by public bettors:

*Odds and betting percentage data as of 2:00 p.m. ET

Duquesne vs. Richmond (-2)

6:00 p.m. ET

Richmond opened -2 against Duquesne and 77% of tickets are on the Spiders. Interestingly, 58% of dollars wagered have taken the Dukes, indicating that some of the larger bets on this game have taken the dog.

Why the public loves Richmond: Richmond already beat Duquesne on the road earlier this season and are now only laying two points on a neutral court.

East Carolina vs. Central Florida (-12.5)

9:30 p.m. ET

The public has been very willing to lay the points with Central Florida vs. East Carolina so far, as 77% of bets are on the double-digit favorite. However, 78% of dollars wagered have actually taken the Pirates, which explains why this line has moved from an opener of +13.5 down to +12.5.

Why the public loves Central Florida: UCF crushed ECU by 20 points on the road earlier this season, so why wouldn't a 12.5-point spread on a neutral court be an automatic wager?

Boston Celtics (-2) at Minnesota Timberwolves

8:00 p.m. ET

In easily the most-lopsided NBA game of the night, 82% of tickets and 85% of dollars are on the Celtics against the Timberwolves.

Mega Thursday Betting, DFS Preview: Do Spurs Have a Prayer at Golden State?

Read now

Why the public loves Boston: The Celtics are 39-24-2 (61.9%) ATS this season and facing off against a Timberwolves team that's only 31-34-1 (47.7%) ATS. Boston is also a ridiculous 22-9 on the road this season, making it easy to lay such a small number.

Photo: UCF Knights guard B.J. Taylor and UCF Knights forward A.J. Davis celebrate; credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports