College Basketball Best Bets for Monday

There's one more football game left to be played, but for now, college basketball is taking center stage.

Dive in below for college basketball best bets and Three Man Weave's three picks for Monday, January 29. Matt Cox, take it away!

College Basketball Best Bets

The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.

By Matt Cox

Cassell Coliseum is a house of horrors for most opponents on any night. The Hokies are 42-31 against the spread at home since Mike Young took over in 2019.

Tonight, the juices at the dimly-lit, steeply-structured venue will be flowing when the big bad Duke Blue Devils come to town.

It’s a quick turnaround for both squads, but only the visiting Blue Devils will take on the burdensome travel.

On top of that, Jon Scheyer must prepare his freshmen-laden squad for the Hokies’ complex offense in less than 48 hours. Granted, there are some schematic similarities to Duke’s most recent opponent, Clemson, which was a controversial call away from stealing a road win at Cameron Indoor on Saturday.

With Jeremy Roach still banged up and Kyle Filipowski coming off a sluggish outing himself, the Blue Devils — though healthier — are still not firing on all cylinders.

Conversely, Virginia Tech has won three straight comfortably, crescendoing to a potential explosion tonight at home.

This all sets the stage for a vintage home ‘dog spot in which all the dominoes fall the Hokies’ way.

Pick: Virginia Tech +3

By Matt Cox

Another quick Saturday-to-Monday turnaround for a battle between two talented MEAC squads.

Norfolk is the undisputed class of this conference, but Kevin Broadus — a known talent magnet — has his group trending in the right direction.

In the postgame presser after an impressive home win over Howard, Broadus mentioned his team’s rejuvenated health, which may not be obvious on the surface. Key cogs Wynston Tabbs and Will Thomas each suffered minor injuries early in the year but appear to be rounding into form at the right time.

On the other side of the coin, Norfolk’s “cockroach” DNA has proven to be “unsquashable” throughout the non-conference.

However, being at home and being expected to win by double digits is uncharted waters for head coach Robert Jones, who historically relishes the underdog label.

The Spartans did smash Willam & Mary early in the season, but on Saturday, they struggled to squeak by Coppin State, which profiles similarly to Morgan, according to the metrics.

A reasonable 170-mile bus ride shouldn’t be too taxing on Morgan’s energy tonight, especially because it’s now healthy and has a renewed sense of purpose early in conference play.

Pick: Morgan State +13 (Play to +12)

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By Matt Cox

Will Wade has taken the Southland by storm down in Lake Charles. Impressive victories over marquee programs helped McNeese shoot out the metric charts entering conference play.

Now, Wade and his group have a target on their back, and the rest of the Southland is circling McNeese on its schedule. Combine that motivational edge with inflated prices derived from the Cowboys’ stellar non-conference, and a systemic fade opportunity emerges.

While McNeese just beat New Orleans by roughly a million on Saturday, it remains just 2-5 against the number versus Southland opponents.

Northwestern State is responsible for one of those ATS defeats — an ugly 69-58 McNeese victory on Jan. 8 that covered the 19-point closing number fairly easily.

Technically, taking roughly the same price — 19 — as the closing number of the first game a few weeks ago seems foolish. However, this angle warrants an exception, as there’s sustaining evidence that McNeese remains a tad overvalued relative to its Southland foes.

Lastly, similar to the Morgan State road ‘dog spot mentioned above, only 110 miles separates the two campuses. The Demons should be all-in for a second crack at the class of the Southland.

Pick: Northwestern State +19.5 (Play to +17)