College Basketball Best Bets (2/18/24)
Author: Dylan Lieck | February 18, 2024 | 10:01 A.M. CST
The following are some official 2 Unit plays for today. These are not my top play of the day (see next article).
Top Plays of Sunday’s Slate (All 2 Units):
South Florida +5.5 vs. FAU: South Florida is a shocking 11-1 in conference and they are currently coming into this one on a 10-game winning streak. They are one of the surprise teams this year not just in the American Conference, but in the country. This might actually be the biggest game in their school history in terms of men’s basketball. A win here would not only put them to 12-1 in conference play and 20-5 overall, but it would give them a 2-game advantage over FAU for the American regular season title. FAU isn’t what they were last year. Don’t get me wrong, they have a ton of talent, and a lot of guys from that Final Four run returned. However, they have had some really poor outings this season. They lost to Bryant early in the season for God’s sake. Even in conference play they’ve had a number of very close calls, and despite coming in 10-2 in conference play, this group could very easily be 7-5. Thus, catching 5.5 at home, in a game that the kids from South Florida will no doubt be up for, we’re riding with the home dog. This is the first sell out for the school in program history. That place will be rocking.
Evansville +4.5 @ Illinois State: I don’t like taking road teams, but in the MVC, there are some places that just do not have much home court advantage. Illinois State is one of them. Additionally Illinois State is coming off a massive road upset of #23 Indiana State earlier this week. So this is naturally a let down spot for them. On the other side, Evansville started off conference play horrible. But they’ve been playing much better basketball as of late. The Purple Aces had won 5 in a row before back to back losses. However, both those losses came on buzzer beating threes. The one last game against Drake was a half court shot that banked in at the buzzer. So even in their recent losses they’re playing great basketball and have just gotten a bit unlucky late in games. I think 4.5 points is just too much here, in a let down spot for Illinois State, who by the way has a losing record on the year overall. Give me the Purple Aces again here.
Ohio State +8.5 vs. Purdue: Back Big 10 Home teams. It’s pretty simple. If you do this blindly this year you’re over 60% which is tremendous. This one is not blindly backed though. The truth is this number feels short. Purdue has been destroying teams as of late, and often times they are laying double digits on the road. The problem is they’ve been covering those numbers. So why is this number only 8.5? It seems fishy to me, which is why I like the home dog here. Ohio State is not going to the NCAA tournament, barring a miraculous run in the Big 10 tourney to win it all. They also fired their head coach, Chris Holtman following their win earlier this week. The thing about that is teams usually respond well to a coach getting fired, and they tend to come out that next game and play extremely hard for the assistant who just stepped in. The Buckeyes also have some really athletic bigs and I do think they have the ability to at least give Eddy some trouble underneath. They aren’t going to be AS undersized at the 5 position as some of the other teams in the conference are. It’s risky no doubt, and the Buckeyes could get blown out, but I just think the spot is too good to pass up. Give me the Buckeyes +8.5
