Three AP top-25 teams are in action on Sunday to highlight a jam-packed schedule. Read on for our college basketball best bets for Sunday based on the top NCAAB odds.
Two of the three ranked teams in action on Sunday are looking to bounce back from losses earlier this week (No. 20 Providence and No. 21 Northwestern). Meanwhile, No. 4 UCLA looks to clinch the Pac-12 regular season title while traveling to Colorado.
Here are our college basketball best bets for Sunday (odds via DraftKings Sportsbook, Caesars, and PointsBet; Pick confidence is based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Check out our top college basketball picks and our best March Madness betting sites.
Sunday's college basketball schedule and odds
- Illinois (4.5) vs. Ohio State
- Rutgers vs. Penn State (-3)
- UCLA (-6) vs. Colorado
- Northwestern vs. Maryland (-6)
Check out our best March Madness odds and Wooden Award odds.
College basketball best bets for Sunday
- Spread: Memphis -5 vs. Cincinnati (-110 via PointsBet) ???
- Moneyline: Illinois ML vs. Ohio State (-189 via Caesars) ???
- Total: Wisconsin-Michigan Under 129.5 (-110 via DraftKings) ???
- Upset: Rutgers ML vs. Penn State (+135 via PointsBet) ???
College basketball top picks
Memphis welcomed back point guard Kendrick Davis from a brief one-game absence, and the AAC's leading scorer (21.2 points per game) led the Tigers to a five-point road victory over Wichita State. An ankle injury didn't hamper Davis as he scored 19 points in 34 minutes, finishing with his second-highest offensive rating in th e previous six games.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati boasts arguably the best defensive backcourt in the AAC in David DeJulius and Mika Adams-Woods. But the pair had its hands full with Davis in the first matchup. Davis scored right at his season average (21 points). He also went to the foul line 14 times, which is most concerning for Bearcats backers.
This is a solid three-star play, as Memphis negated Cincinnati's AAC-leading 3-point prowess (36.4%) while holding the team to 25%, and we expect a similar result in a building where the Tigers have won 12 of 13 games in 2022-23. Memphis has covered the spread in just four of those contests, but the Tigers should dominate the Bearcats, especially with forward Malcolm Dandridge likely to get more minutes after a 15-game absence.
PointsBet is the only sportsbook offering Memphis -5 at standard -110 juice.
Illinois didn't take its first lead during the team's last game against Northwestern until the 2:36 mark in the second half. But the school showed tremendous resiliency while erasing an 18-point halftime deficit.
Meanwhile, Ohio State is in freefall mode after losing 14 of 15 and three of the previous four in this series, including two of the last three at home.
This is a three-star play because it's a matchup of the Big Ten's best 2-point shooting team (Illinois makes 54.2% of its shots inside the arc) against the league's worst 2-point shooting squad (Ohio State makes 46.5% from 2-point range). That spells doom for the Buckeyes, as the Fighting Illini allow the 10th-lowest percentage of opponents' points from deep.
Ohio State is a league-worst 2-15 ATS over its 17 Big Ten games, and we expect that trend to continue on Sunday.
Wisconsin plays at the 352nd-slowest tempo in the country, which is a big reason none of its last three opponents have topped 59 points. The Badgers grind possessions to a halt on both ends of the floor, ranking 324th or lower in average offensive and defensive possession lengths.
Meanwhile, Michigan is coming off its best defensive performance of the season after holding Rutgers to 0.74 points per possession and 18-for-47 shooting from the floor (38.3%). The Wolverines were without second-leading scorer Jett Howard (14.4 points per game), and they don't boast many consistent shooters in his absence to take defensive attention away from center Hunter Dickinson. This is a three-star play for now, but it would switch to a more confident four-star play if Howard is ruled out for the second straight game.
The Under is 7-6 in Michigan's 13 games as a home favorite, and it's cashed in 10 of Wisconsi n's 17 Big Ten games.
Rutgers has lost four of its last five contests. But head coach Steve Pikiell is getting his team to play hard on the defensive end after losses, as the Scarlet Knights have allowed just 50.9 points per game following a defeat in 2022-23.
One of those games came when they held Penn State to 45 points during a home win, with the Nittany Lions shooting a miserable 4-for-26 from 3-point range (15.4%). Rutgers boasts arguably the best on-ball defender in the conference in guard Caleb McConnell. His ability to use his length to frustrate Penn State point guard Jalen Pickett, the Big Ten's fourth-leading scorer (18.8 points per game), will go a long way toward helping his team earn a significant road victory.
This line opened at +130, so PointsBet once again offers the best value.
College basketball best bets made 2/26/2023 a t 6:50 a.m. ET.
Here are our best March Madness betting sites:
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- PointsBet: Earn Five Second-Chance Bets Up to $50 Each | Read our PointsBet Review
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