College basketball schedule today features big rivalry games and some important conference tournament action
If you're a college basketball fan, we strongly suggest parking yourself on the couch and soaking in today's action. This is an absolutely loaded slate and it features good games all throughout the day. With that said, let's jump right into it and give you some of our favorite picks for Sunday, March 5th. March Madness is right around the corner and now is the time to start building some good habits — while also boosting your bankroll.
Here are some thoughts on the March 5 card (odds from DraftKings):
Houston Cougars (-5, 145.5) at Memphis Tigers
Over the last three seasons, Penny Hardaway’s Tigers are 11-3 against the spread when playing as underdogs. They’re also 13-3 ATS when playing in March in that span. On top of both of those key trends, the Tigers happen to be 19-8 ATS when trying to avenge a road loss against an opponent under Hardaway. That’s significant when you consider that the Cougars earned a 72-64 win when these teams met in Texas back on February 19th. That was, however, a game in which Memphis covered, and the Tigers are now 8-1 ATS in the last nine head-to-head meetings between these two.
We know how hard it can be to bet against Houston, which is the top team in our VSiN Team Power Ratings and happens to be a top-10 team in KenPom’s offensive and defensive efficiency rankings. But this is a matchup that hasn’t intimidated the Tigers in the past, and we like the team to hang around in a game that could do wonders for the team’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament.