Saturday featured an intriguing slate of college football with wall-to-wall action. Now, we have Sunday college basketball.

Our staff kept working throughout the day to share their five favorite bets for Sunday's games on the hardwood, ranging from Saint John's vs. Stony Brook to Penn State vs. Seton Hall.

Check out each individual betting pick with a full breakdown below.

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How to Bet Sunday's College Basketball Slate

Here's a rundown of our favorite betting spots on Sunday's slate of games:

All listed odds have been updated as of Saturday night and via DraftKings. 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.

Saint John's (-16.5) vs. Stony Brook

By Mike Randle

Saint John's Odds	-16.5 [BET NOW]
Auburn Odds	+16.5 [BET NOW]
Moneyline	-2500/+1050 [BET NOW]
Over/Under	146.5 [BET NOW]
Time	2:30 p.m. ET
TV	FS1
(Photo Credit: John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

Both St. John’s and Stony Brook have been playing fast this season. The Seawolves rank 54th in adjusted tempo, while the Red Storm are blistering at the fifth-fastest rate in the nation, per KenPom. 

That is a bad omen for the Seawolves in a true road matchup at Carnesecca Arena. This game was scheduled on Dec. 2 after upcoming games against Sacred Heart and Fordham were canceled because of COVID-19 tests in those programs.

This gives Stony Brook very little time to prepare for a huge increase in opponent talent on the road. The Seawolves won a tough overtime game on Friday night at home against Fairfield. The Stags led for most of the game and entered the game ranked just 284th in overall efficiency. St. John’s is now 3-1, defeating St. Peter’s, LaSalle, and Boston College, before losing to BYU, 74-68, at Mohegan Sun. 

Stony Brook enters this season without almost 80% of its scoring from last year after five players transferred to other schools. Head coach Geno Ford enters his second season and is still trying to blend young recruits with transfers. The Stony Brook defense is always stout but has allowed opponents to shoot over 47% from deep this season. Even the poor shooting Stags managed to shoot 36% (5-of-14) from beyond the arc on Friday. 

Red Storm sophomore Julian Champagnie returned from an ankle injury two games ago and has been fantastic. He is averaging 27 points and 7.5 rebounds, including 29 points in his debut against Boston College. 

St. John’s ranks 89th in offensive rebounding and is making a fantastic 80.2% of their free throws. As a contrast, Stony Brook is shooting just 48% from the foul line. 

This is a mismatch in talent, and there simply hasn’t been enough time for the defensively-oriented Seawolves to prepare for this talent discrepancy. I expect this game to mimic Friday’s game between St. Peter’s and Maryland. The small school gets down early and then doesn’t have enough offense to recover. 

I’m backing St. John’s at home against Stony Brook, and project around a 20-point win. I would bet this line up to the Red Storm -17.5.

Xavier (+1.5) vs. Cincinnati

By Ace DeCardano

Xavier Odds	+1 [BET NOW]
Cincinnati Odds	-1 [BET NOW]
Moneyline	-106/-115 [BET NOW]
Over/Under	136 [BET NOW]
Time	3 p.m. ET
TV	ESPN
(Photo Credit: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images).

Styles make fights. Never is this saying more apropos than when talking about this edition of the Crosstown Shootout.

Xavier’s defensive strength lies in its ability to guard in the paint. According to the KenPom rankings, it ranks fifth in the nation in terms of 2-point percentage against, and it has not been allowing its opponents to get to the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati is a team that is not known for its 3-point prowess. A season ago, the Bearcats ranked 242nd in terms of 3-point percentage. In their lone game of the year against Lipscomb, they showed nothing to suggest these numbers will greatly increase this season.

How are they going to generate points?

Meanwhile, Xavier is proving to be efficient on the offensive end of the floor. The Musketeers rank 39th in terms of effective field goal percentage, and they assist on 66% of their field goals. The assist rate tells me the efficiency is sustainable.

Give me the 5-0 team getting points against the team with one game under its belt. As long as it keeps Cincinnati from being dominant on the offensive glass, Xavier is going to win this game. 

Pepperdine (+9) vs. San Diego State

By Mike Calabrese

Pepperdine Odds	+8.5 [BET NOW]
San Diego State Odds	-8.5 [BET NOW]
Moneyline	+325/-435 [BET NOW]
Over/Under	143.5 [BET NOW]
Time	3:30 p.m. ET
TV	N/A
(Photo Credit: Douglas Stringer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

The Waves came up short against UCLA in triple overtime last week, but they proved, in defeat, that they’re more than a tough out. It’s been a slow build in Malibu, but Pepperdine appears to finally be ready to challenge for that second slot in the WCC behind Gonzaga.

And while they do feature five starters who average double figures, the Waves are powered by two tremendous mid-major stars. Colbey Ross at the point and Kessler Edwards on the low block are what make this offense really hum. Ross is averaging 24 points and 6.7 assists per game while burying 3s at a 43.5% clip. Edwards, who has improved noticeably in each of his three seasons, is now averaging 18.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. 

I love mid-majors that are known quantities, and the Waves have experience, scoring punch and a tremendous ATS record when they take the floor as an underdog (22-13 since 2018 | 62.8%). 

On the Aztec side of things, you have an SDSU team that is well-coached and methodical on offense. The latter is the key here, in that San Diego State prefers to play at a glacial pace (261st out of 282). That makes covering larger numbers more difficult. This explains SDSU’s record against the spread as a favorite since 2018. The Aztecs are a healthy 30-21 ATS (58%) in those spots yet their margin of victory against the closing number is just 1.8 points. 

I’ll gladly take the points here and may even sprinkle a quarter unit on the Waves moneyline, which is currently in the +375 to +415 range.

TCU (+3) vs. Oklahoma

By BJ Cunningham

TCU Odds	+3 [BET NOW]
Oklahoma Odds	-3 [BET NOW]
Moneyline	+130/-159 [BET NOW]
Over/Under	135 [BET NOW]
Time	4 p.m. ET
TV	ESPN2
(Photo Credit: Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

Oklahoma says goodbye to leading scorer Kristian Doolittle and now will go with a more balanced approach on the offensive end of the floor. Outside of Doolittle, all of Oklahoma’s main contributors are back in 2020, and that experience is projected to improve things on the offensive end from an efficiency standpoint, per KenPom. 

Last season, Oklahoma really struggled shooting the ball. It ranked 237th in effective field goal percentage and 248th in 3-point percentage. It’s hard to imagine it’ll improve upon those numbers going into 2020 with its leading scorer walking out the door. 

TCU really struggled down the stretch last season, going 3-11 in its last 14 games in the Big 12. However, Jamie Dixon has a really talented squad back in 2020. The main reason the Horned Frogs are expected to improve is because of their defense. KenPom has TCU projected as the-20th best defense in terms of efficiency, as it returns three starters from last year’s team. 

The wild card for the Horned Frogs is going to be Chattanooga transfer Kevin Easley, who was the SoCon freshman of the year in 2018. He could be the final piece of the puzzle for Dixon as a 3-and-D man playing out of the four spot on the floor.

TCU’s strength on the offensive is from behind the arc. The Horned Frogs were 61st in 3-point percentage and had 39.4 percent of their points come from the 3 ball (14th highest in the nation). Oklahoma coincidentally allowed the 14th most points from behind the arc last season, so I expect TCU to try and win this game by shooting a ton of 3-pointers. 

I only have Oklahoma projected at -0.53 favorites on the road, so I think there is value on the Horned Frogs at +3 or better.

Penn State (-4.5) vs. Seton Hall

By Tanner McGrath

Penn State Odds	-2 [BET NOW]
Seton Hall Odds	+2 [BET NOW]
Moneyline	-134/+112 [BET NOW]
Over/Under	146.5 [BET NOW]
Time	8 p.m. ET
TV	Big Ten Network
(Photo Credit: Paul Bergstrom/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

Oregon easily covered against Seton Hall on Friday. I’m going back to the well and fading Seton Hall against the Penn State Sunday night.

In my Friday best bets pick, I wrote that Seton Hall has turnover problems. That proved to be true against the Ducks, when it turned the ball over 17 times. It’s now 152nd in the nation in Turnover Percentage, per KenPom.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Nittany Lions thrive off turnovers. Penn State ranks second in the nation in Steal Percentage and 13th in opponent turnovers per game, perTeamRankings. It forced 16 in its win over VCU and 25 in its win over VMI.

Additionally, Penn State is great on the offensive boards. It sits 34th in the nation in Offensive Rebound Percentage, snagging 12 against VCU and 16 against VMI. Meanwhile, Seton Hall is 163rd in Defensive Rebounding Percentage. In their loss against Oregon, the Pirates got out-rebounded, 38-22, with only four offensive rebounds.

Seton Hall is 1-3 to begin the season and are in free-fall. It’s also 2-4 against the spread in its last six games and 1-4 straight up in their last five road games. On the other hand, Penn State just ripped off two solid victories, sits 17-3 SU in its last 20 games at home and 9-1 in its last 10 games against the Big East.

One last thing — Penn State Sophomore Seth Lundy is cooking. Lundy had 32 points on 11-for-19 shooting against VCU. I’m expecting him to dominate again in his matchup with Seton Hall’s Tyrese Samuel.

I really like the Nittany Lions in this spot. Penn State opened at -3, and I would take them all the way up to -4.5. 

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