Semifinal action in several conference tournaments will give way to championship rounds over the weekend, and we offer our top college basketball player props and best bets for Friday based on the best college basketball odds.
Several conferences will know their championship matchups by the end of the day, as Friday is loaded with intriguing semifinal action in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big West, CUSA, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, SWAC, and WAC.
Few potential bid stealers remain, which means plenty of bubble teams around the country will be sweating through Selection Sunday. What does Friday's slate have in store for us?
To accompany our college basketball conference tournament predictions & picks, here are our college basketball player props and best bets for Friday (college basketball picks based on odds via our best March Madness betting sites; pic k confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Friday's college basketball best bets
- Joel Soriano Under 10.5 points vs. UConn (-105 via DraftKings, bet365) ???
- Darrion Williams Over 7.5 rebounds vs. Houston (-125 via DraftKings, bet365) ????
- Michigan State +8 vs. Purdue (-110 via bet365) ???
- South Carolina +8 vs. Auburn (-110 via bet365) ????
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Friday's college basketball schedule and odds
(Odds via Caesars)
- Michigan State vs. Purdue | Spread: Purdue -7.5 | Total: 144
- Mississippi State vs. Tennessee | Spread: Tennessee -10 | Total: 142
- South Carolina vs. Auburn | Spread: Auburn -7.5 | Total: 142
- St. John's vs. UConn | Spread: UConn -10 | Total: 146.5
- T exas A&M vs. Kentucky | Spread: Kentucky -6 | Total: 160
- Oregon vs. Arizona | Spread: Arizona -11 | Total: 155
- Florida vs. Alabama | Spread: Alabama -4 | Total: 171
Friday's college basketball player props
KenPom projects St. John's to score 71 points in this matchup, which is a far cry from its 88.8 points per game average during a current six-game winning streak (the Red Storm have scored 80-plus points in every game during the streak). That low projection is largely because the Huskies rank eighth nationally in 2-point percentage defense (43.8%), led by Donovon Clingan, who is third in the country in EvanMiya's DBPR (Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating).
This is a three-star play, as Soriano did score 14 points in the first meeting between these teams (six in the rematch), but Clingan did not play in that game, and Soriano did most of his damage fro m the free throw line anyway (made six of seven attempts).
As of Thursday evening, DraftKings had +100 odds for this wager, but now the price has changed and aligned with the -105 odds at bet365. We are still making Soriano's Under a play, as at -105 odds, a $10 wager still returns a quality payout of $19.52 ($9.52 in profit).
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Texas Tech guard/forward Darrion Williams leads the team with an average of 7.6 rebounds per game, and the only other Red Raiders player that averages more than 4.5 rebounds per game is Warren Washington (7.4), but he has missed the last five games with a foot injury, and he does not appear likely to suit up today. Thus, Williams will again have to pick up the slack in Washington's absence on the board. He has done a great job of that to this point, securing eight-plus rebounds in four of the five games in his absence. Houston does a great job on the offensive glass (ranks 10th nationally) but is vulnerable on the defensive backboards, with an offensive rebounding percentage rate that ranks outside the top 250.
DraftKings lowered its line from -130 to -125 on this prop, which now aligns with bet365's price. This is still a play despite the slightly steeper juice, but bettors may be more enticed by the +225 odds bet365 offers for Will iams to grab 10-plus rebounds, a wager that would return $22.50 for every $10 wagered if it cashes.
Friday's college basketball game picks
This point spread started as one of the more head-scratching lines of the day's slate, as Michigan State is opened as just a 6.5-point underdog to a Purdue team that is a mortal lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While that number has ballooned to +8 overnight, perhaps Purdue's scenarios are the reason for the low number, as the Boilermakers are likely destined for the top seed in the Midwest regardless if they lose this game or win the Big Ten Tournament, while the Spartans head coach Tom Izzo will likely have his desperate team playing with extra motivation.
These two teams met just two weeks ago at Mackey Arena, and Purdue scratched out a six-point win despite shooting better than 50% from the floor and making 10-of-20 3-point attempts. M ichigan State played a clean game with just seven turnovers, and we expect Izzo's bunch to cover for the fifth time in its last six conference tournament games dating back to 2021.
With most of our best sports betting sites at +7.5, we are grabbing the +8 before Michigan State backers drive the number back down using our bet365 bonus code: SBRBONUS.
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Auburn and South Carolina finished with identical 13-5 league records, but the Tigers largely earned a bye to the quarterfinals over the Gamecocks because of a 101-61 blowout of their SEC rivals on Valentine's Day. While the win was Auburn's seventh straight in this rivalry dating back to the 2019 SEC Tournament, we believe the Gamecocks have much more than a puncher's chance in this matchup on a neutral site as opposed to “The Jungle” at Auburn.
Auburn is 45-3 SU at home since 2021, but is just 28-23 in neutral site or road games in that span. South Carolina can limit Auburn's transition baskets thanks to a 354th-ranked tempo, and we expect regression from the Tigers from the perimeter after making 60% of their 3-point attempts in the first meeting.
Like the Michigan State spread, bet365 is the only one of our best sportsbooks offering a line of +8, while all other competitors are at +7 .5. While this is still a play at +7.5, be sure to grab the best number, as a Gamecocks loss by eight points would be a push at bet365 and a losing bet anywhere else at the moment.
College basketball best bets made Friday at 6:36 a.m. ET
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