NCAA basketball betting heats up
By: Willie Bee
Football, both pro and college, will be foremost on the minds of fans and bettors during the coming Thanksgiving holiday week. Meanwhile the college basketball season continues to heat up with a schedule that includes a couple of tournaments involving several ranked teams.
The week begins on the hardwood at Kansas City's Sprint Center with the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic that features three of the top 11 schools in the recent AP poll plus a strong Big East squad to round things out. No. 1 Duke, No. 3 Kansas State, No. 11 Gonzaga and Marquette fill that bill which begins Monday evening.
Wednesday finds the semifinals of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off taking place at Madison Square Garden. No. 6 Villanova will battle UCLA while the No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers try to put off-court news behind them with a contest against Virginia Commonwealth. The two winners will meet in the tourney title game on Friday.
Not interested in watching or betting football Thanksgiving Day? You're in luck with the Old Spice Classic cranking up at the Fieldhouse in Orlando. Eight teams fill out this year's bracket, with all four Thursday games televised on ESPN2.
Boston College and Texas A&M tip things off at 9 a.m. PT on Thanksgiving followed by Wisconsin versus Manhattan, Georgia taking on Notre Dame and finally No. 21 Temple battling California in the 6 p.m. PT matchup. The tournament works its way through until the last two unbeaten schools meet in the championship on Sunday (Nov. 28, 4 p.m. PT).
Here's a quick glance at where all of the top 10 schools will be in action this week.
1) Duke (3-0 straight up, 2-0 against the spread)
The Blue Devils begin the week against Marquette in the O'Reilly Classic in KC on Monday. The defending champs will then take on the winner of the Gonzaga/K-State game on Tuesday before closing their week on the road Saturday in Portland against the Oregon Ducks.
2) Michigan State (2-0, 1-1)
Tom Izzo's gang has a busy week ahead of them in Hawaii at the Maui Invitational that begins Monday. The Spartans first take on host Chaminade and, assuming there's no monumental upset in that one, will meet the winner of the UConn, Wichita State battle in Round 2. The stage is set for a Michigan State, Kentucky scrap in that tourney's final on Wednesday. State then returns to East Lansing for next Sunday's matchup with Tennessee Tech.
3) Kansas State (3-0, 1-1)
The Wildcats start with Gonzaga in the top college basketball betting game on Monday's slate before a Tuesday fight with either Duke or Marquette. K-State will be back home Friday for what amounts to an exhibition match against Texas Southern.
4) Ohio State (3-0, 2-0)
The Buckeyes remain home for the holidays with two contests versus mid-majors. Tuesday finds Morehead State in Columbus followed by Miami-Ohio on Friday.
5) Pittsburgh (5-0, 2-2)
Robert Morris comes to town for a Tuesday tip with the Panthers. Friday will find Penn from the Ivy League at Pitt's Petersen Events Center.
6) Villanova (4-0, 2-0)
'Nova is at MSG for two games this week in the NIT Season Tip-Off. Up first is UCLA on Wednesday with the Wildcats expected to face Tennessee in Friday's tournament championship.
7) Kansas (3-0, 2-0)
The Jayhawks start the week off at home with a Tuesday game versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Both of those schools will then head to Sin City's Orleans Arena for the Las Vegas Invitational that starts Friday. Kansas draws the Ohio Bobcats that day before concluding its week against Arizona on Saturday.
8) North Carolina (2-1, 1-1)
The Tar Heels' 72-67 loss to Minnesota on Friday in Puerto Rico could drop UNC from the top 10. Roy Williams' squad was a six-point favorite and was still in the process at press of finishing its trip to PR with a Sunday matchup against Vanderbilt who was a four-point underdog. North Carolina will return home after that game to face a pair of regional foes this week starting with UNC-Asheville on Tuesday and the College of Charleston next Sunday.
9) Florida (2-1, 0-2)
A home loss to Ohio State this past week will drop the Gators from the top 10. Florida was in the process of finishing its week against Morehead State on Sunday before hosting Florida Atlantic on Tuesday. Billy Donovan's clubs finishes its week on the road in Tallahassee next Sunday against Florida State.
10) Syracuse (3-0, 1-2)
The Orange were battling William & Mary at press in the second round of the Legends Classic. That tourney continues next Friday when Syracuse travels to Atlantic City to meet Michigan. Saturday's game will be against the winner/loser of the Georgia Tech, UTEP matchup.