After an opening night that featured Arizona topping Florida in an excellent game and AJ Dybantsa shining bright in his collegiate debut vs. Villanova, we transition to day two of the college basketball season.
Texas vs. Duke takes the spotlight on Tuesday from Charlotte, but that's not the only game to target for your best bets.
So, here's college basketball best bets and predictions, including three NCAAB expert picks for Tuesday, November 4.
College Basketball Best Bets
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7:30 p.m. | |
  | 8:45 p.m. | |
  | 10 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations 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. | ||
Wichita State vs. UNC Asheville
By Sean Paul
I'll take the points with UNC Asheville, and I also think the Bulldogs are a live 'dog.
I don't love this Wichita State team and view it as pretty one-dimensional. If Kenyon Giles and Michael Gray Jr. struggle, anything can happen. Neither were overly efficient from the field at their prior stops and both are more perimeter-focused anyway.
The Bulldogs' big three of Big South Player of the Year Toyaz Solomon, sophomore Kameron Taylor and Justin Wright, who missed last season with an injury, could vault them to a potential road upset.
I expect a very close game, either way, because the Shockers don't have the offensive weapons to blow out a solid team like UNC Asheville.
Pick: UNC Asheville +7.5
Texas vs. Duke
Duke was a highly skilled chameleon last season.
The Blue Devils could run and gun and outscore teams, as they did on five occasions when they hit the century mark. They were also happy to slow things way down and grind out wins in the half-court. Last season, Duke went 28-0 straight up in games in which it held its opponent below 70 points.
And to perfectly illustrate the Blue Devils' willingness to win in a variety of ways, let’s have a look at their two wins over the Arizona Wildcats last season.
They took down Arizona 69-55 in late November in a half-court grinder.
Four months later, against that very same Wildcat team, Duke switched into fifth gear in the NCAA Tournament during a 100-93 victory. That pulse-pounding, up-and-down affair seemed just as natural for Duke as its defensive clinic earlier in the season.
Jon Scheyer has quickly proven to be an adept head coach. He’s capable of assembling a championship-worthy roster, while cultivating an in-season identity. This year’s team has so many new faces in the mix that it’s a reasonable expectation for the offense to be a work-in-progress on night one.
What I do have faith in, right out the chute, is their elite upside on the defensive end. This team is incredibly long. All five starters, including guards Caleb Foster and Isaiah Evans, have wing spans in excess of 6-foot-6, including Cam Boozer’s enormous reach (7-foot).
When you add in their athleticism as a group, they have the makings of a disruptive defense that's impossible to run on.
That’s bad news for a Sean Miller-coached team, because in an ideal world, 20% of his offense is generated in transition. Duke finished eighth in transition suppression last season, with just 8.2 fastbreak opportunities allowed per game.
That's a combination of coaching and the kind of athletes Scheyer has targeted on the recruiting trail since taking the big job in Durham.
One final piece of the puzzle here is the whistle on Tuesday night. If Duke’s latest exhibition against Tennessee revealed anything, it's Boozer and Evans' desire to attack the rim. The duo took 19 foul shots, knocking down 17.
Miller and his staff did a masterful job instilling foul-avoidance in their players last season at Xavier. The Musketeers finished 68th in defensive foul rate. If they force a somewhat green Duke offense to knock down shots from the field as opposed to freebies at the line, we should come in under this number.
Pick: Under 153.5 (Play to 150.5)
Louisiana Tech vs. Nevada
By Evan Abrams
Our very own Evan Abrams has a system called "Opening Home Favs" that likes Nevada to cover the spread late on Tuesday against Louisiana Tech.
This system targets opening home favorites in college basketball, focusing on teams playing their very first game of the season.
These teams are at home, entering with a clean slate, and often are coming off a previous year where they had fewer than 20 wins. Nevada fits this criteria, as it finished with 17 victories last season and a shaky 15-18 record against the spread.
The idea is that early in the season, oddsmakers may undervalue these programs, especially against teams with more preseason buzz or established reputations.
While the Bulldogs aren't exactly creating massive buzz, they're known to historically be a feisty mid-major opponent and are projected to finish fifth in the C-USA this season. Meanwhile, the Wolf Pack are projected to finish just seventh in the Mountain West in 2025-26.
Playing at home offers a comfort advantage, and being listed as a favorite or pick implies early market confidence despite modest prior results.
With totals capped at 149.5, this typically captures games expected to be moderately paced rather than high-scoring shootouts.
Historically, these home teams tend to outperform the spread as they seek to set the tone for a bounce-back season and reward early bettors backing them in their opener.
Most importantly, this system has an A- grade, according to Bet Labs, and a positive return on investment (ROI) of 3.8% or +$4,403 historically.
Pick: Nevada -8.5
