College Basketball Best Bets: Our Picks for Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma & Prairie View A&M vs. Alabama State (Monday, Feb. 1)
John E. Moore III/Getty Images. Pictured: Terrence Shannon Jr.
- Monday's college hoops slate isn't big by any means, but there's still value on the table.
- Our college basketball staff broke down one top-15 game and one under-the-radar matchup for their best Monday bets.
- Check out each individual breakdown complete with picks below.
Monday's college basketball slate is relatively small, but that doesn't mean there's not betting value on the board.
Our staff found two games — one nationally televised top-15 matchup and one under-the-radar contest — to break down as their favorite bets of the day.
Check out the full analysis and picks for Prairie View A&M vs. Alabama State and Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma below, and feel free to navigate to either game by using the table below.
College Basketball Odds & Picks
All listed odds have been updated as of Monday afternoon. Specific bet recommendations at the end of each matchup breakdown come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing.
Always shop for the best price using our NCAAB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game.
Prairie View A&M vs. Alabama State
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In the days of the original Playstation, EA Sports’ NCAA Football ‘98 introduced the “Dynasty Mode” feature.
This allowed users to control a college football program over multiple years, while recruiting, conducting offseason conditioning and setting future schedules.
If you were looking at a true rebuild, scheduling cupcakes was the easiest way to get back on track. Prairie View A&M was the surest W you could throw on your schedule, routinely ranking D- or F across the board. That was my first interaction with the Houston area’s only HBCU.
Let’s just say the school’s basketball program is making up for all of those virtual beatdowns with its play on the hardwood the last two and a half years.
Dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season, the Panthers are 36-5 in SWAC play. And this season, they’re off to a 5-0 SU and ATS start. The Panthers check in at 214 in the Sagarin Ratings, while you have to nearly scroll off the page to locate Alabama State (349th).
Beyond the historical ATS data, the Panthers are the best defensive team in the SWAC. They create turnovers on nearly 22% of opponents' possessions, and they’ve held opponents to just 63.5 points per game.
Keep in mind, they’ve played Louisville, Washington State and TCU in non-conference play, so those numbers aren’t just based on SWAC competition. Alabama State, meanwhile, is completely hapless on the offensive end, ranking in the sub-340s in anything related to shooting.
I don’t see the Hornets crossing 60 points in this one, which should make for an easier cover for the Panthers.
Pick: Prairie View A&M -16
Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma
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Texas Tech stunned LSU on Saturday by scoring the final 12 points of the game in the final minute to secure a 76-71 victory.
Georgetown transfer Mac McClung is averaging 24.5 points and 1.5 steals while shooting 46.4% (13-of-28) from beyond the arc over the past five games. He’s been the leader of this offense that averages 113.0 points per every 100 possessions, which ranks 24th in the country.
Defensively, the Red Raiders are even better with a defensive adjusted efficiency rating of 92.3.
Oklahoma is missing both starting senior guards in Austin Reaves (15.8 ppg) and Alondes Williams (7.7 ppg) in this matchup, and that should open up a lot of opportunities for McClung, who will be the best player on the court.
Oklahoma is 9-1 at home this year but only 2-3 on the road. The average margin of defeat in those three road losses was 13.7 points.
Texas Tech forces an average of 17.3 turnovers per game while ranking 34th in the country in terms of turning the ball over itself.
Reaves leads the Sooners in steals with 72 on the year, and that will be missed in this game.
Turnovers will be a key statistic in this matchup as the Red Raiders look to turn up the pressure defensively on the Sooners.
I can see this one getting out of hand early with Texas Tech looking to push the tempo off of turnovers to create easy buckets in transition.
Pick: Texas Tech -6.5
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