College Basketball Best Bets: 3 Picks for Friday’s Early Conference Tournament Games

Friday's Early College Basketball Best Bets

Selection Sunday is near, but before the bracket gets revealed, we have a massive Friday Champ Week slate featuring some of the best teams in the nation.

So, here are college basketball picks and odds, including Friday's three best bets for the early conference tournament games on March 15.

By D.J. James

The Michigan State Spartans could provide themselves a boost in seeding for the NCAA tournament field if they can notch a neutral-court win over Purdue.

MSU likes to keep the game slow, and the Spartans average over 18 seconds per possession. Purdue, shockingly, keeps the ball longer than expected offensively, too.

Now, the kicker in this game is that neither team shoots too many 3s, which is unusual for modern day basketball. MSU ranks in the top 70 in Rim-and-3 Rate, per ShotQuality, and Purdue ranks sixth. This means that, for the most part, neither team allows an opponent to take efficient shots.

MSU may struggle on the glass at times, but the last time these two met, the Spartans actually outrebounded Purdue offensively. If they can limit these put-back opportunities for Zach Edey, this is another boost to the under and MSU.

With this game being on a neutral floor, expect fewer foul calls to go in the favor of Edey and company.

MSU will likely try to keep the possessions at the minimum, so taking the under here would be wise.

Bet it to 142.5.

Pick: Under 143.5 (Play to 142.5)

By Brett Pund

In my Conference USA tournament preview, I tipped Sam Houston State as my favorite to cut down the nets, and I like the top seed in this semifinal matchup to cover the spread.

One interesting wrinkle to this event this year is the huge rest advantage given to the Bearkats, who last played on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, UTEP finished up its win over Liberty on Thursday night and has to turn around in less than 24 hours for this early tip.

In that quarterfinal victory, Sam Houston cruised to a dominant win with 12 players seeing action. This rotation just gives the regular-season champion even fresher legs here.

Meanwhile, I struggle to see how the Miners create offense in this matchup. On the road in C-USA play, Bart Torvik has UTEP rated in the bottom three in the league in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and PPP.

This is also the same squad that finished with an against-the-spread record of 3-5 away from home in conference action.

For the Bearkats, this one all comes down to turnovers. They’ve had issues with ball security at times this season, and UTEP forces the most in Conference USA.

However, Sam Houston coughed up the ball 22 times in the first meeting and still covered this number.

I like the Bearkats to punch their ticket to the title game.

Pick: Sam Houston -3.5 (Play to -6)

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By Brett Pund

This has been a great run by Wichita State in the AAC tournament, but I believe it ends here in the quarterfinals against UAB.

Yes, the Shockers did win the regular season meeting a few weeks ago in Birmingham. However, they also shot 50% from the field and made eight of 15 3-pointers.

I’m not expecting that to happen again for a team that's ranked in the bottom three in the AAC by Bart Torvik in multiple offensive categories on the road, including Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, PPP and 3-point percentage.

Meanwhile, UAB has performed well away from home. The Blazers are rated as the fourth-best road team in the conference by Bart Torvik.

Andy Kennedy’s squad went 6-3 against the spread away from home in league play and racked up five outright wins.

I also like Kennedy as a coach in conference tournaments. During his three years with the program, UAB has won at least one game in all three Conference USA tournaments, which includes two trips to the title game.

Kennedy also guided Ole Miss to the school’s second SEC tournament title back in 2013 during the famous run by Marshall Henderson.

I like the Blazers to end Wichita’s magical run with a cover in this AAC tournament matchup.

Pick: UAB -4.5 (Play to -5.5)