College basketball is one of the more entertaining sports to bet on due to the sheer volume of games that take place each day. The season is heating up as conference play winds down, and this is a great time to hone your betting prowess before March Madness.
Using our projections as a guide, which bets should you make via the college basketball odds at FanDuel Sportsbook?
Please note that lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. Please check here to make sure you're seeing the most updated information.
Seton Hall at St. John's
St. John's Moneyline (+104): 2-Star Rating
St. John's +1.5 (-118): 2-Star Rating
This should be a tight game between two fairly even teams, so it makes sense to side with the home underdog.
Our nERD metric ranks Seton Hall 57th and St. John's 82nd. Barttorvik has them about the same, slotting Seton Hall 50th and St. John's 81st.
St. John's is 10-3 at home this year while Seton Hall is just 4-4 on the road. Seton Hall has failed to cover in three of their last five away games. The Pirates are an outstanding 12th in defense, per Barttorvik, but they're just 141st in offense. The Red Storm are an ugly 4-7 in Big East play, but they're playing better of late, winning three of their past five.
Barttorvik has this game as a pick'em, and our model thinks the Red Storm should be favored, projecting a 73.3-71.4 win for St. John's. We give the Red Storm win odds of 57.2%. Taking the Red Storm on the moneyline is a two-star bet (two-unit recommendation), and the same goes for wagering on St. John's to cover, which we have them doing 60.0% of the time.
Minnesota at Rutgers
Rutgers -14.5 (-120): 3-Star Rating
Rutgers is a sizable favorite over Minnesota, but this spread isn't big enough, according to our model.
Rutgers may be the second-best team in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights are much better than their 14-7 record indicates. Barttorvik ranks them 16th, and our metrics have Rutgers 17th. The Scarlet Knights are 12-2 at home, and they've covered in six of their past seven home games. They're carried by an elite defense, ranking second in adjusted D, per Barttorvik.
Minnesota is bad. They're 207th overall by our numbers and 202nd by Barttorvik. They're 1-7 over their last eight, and in their two games against a Barttorvik top-20 team -- both versus Purdue -- the Golden Gophers lost by 22 and 19. Minnesota ranks 283rd in offense, according to Barttorvik, and should have a really tough time scoring on Rutgers' top-shelf defense.
We project Rutgers to win by a score of 75.7-55.5, giving them a 66.2% chance to cover the 14.5-point spread. Taking Rutgers to cover is a three-star wager.