Wake and Rake: Sharp Bettors Finding Value Early for Thursday’s Slate

Duke-North Carolina will rightfully dominate the mainsteam media conversation throughout the day, but to sharp bettors, that’s simply one of many betting opportunities in a deep Thursday college basketball slate.

With the clash in Chapel Hill garnering considerable attention from recreational players, professional money has pivoted and jumped all over one of today’s smaller college basketball matchups.

Saint Mary’s (23-2), the 16th-ranked team in Ken Pom’s college basketball ratings, has not lost since November and will take on Loyola Marymount, losers of 12 of their last 14 games, tonight in Los Angeles. Easy money, right?

Wrong. Sharp bettors are jumping on the opportunity to take the contrarian side, driving down the Lions from an opener of +14 at Bookmaker.eu to the current number of +12.5.

Fifty-nine percent of spread wagers are laying the points with St. Mary’s, but our Bet Signals triggered a Steam Move on Loyola Marymount at +13.5, revealing the exact line where sharp money pounced.

There’s still plenty of action yet to come down on this game, so be sure to track real-time odds, betting trends and money percentage updates on The Action Network’s Public Money page.