Five Big College Hoops Line Moves
Here are five big line movements to be aware of in Thursday’s college basketball slate, including in the Ohio State and Penn State matchup.
No. 8 Ohio State at Penn State, 8:00 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
According to oddsmakers from online sports book YouWager, this Big Ten matchup opened as a pick’em but sharp money hit Penn State early Thursday morning. Despite facing a red-hot Ohio State squad that has won nine of its last 10 games (and is 7-3 ATS over that span), the Nittany Lions are now 1-point home favorites. With a whopping 86% of betting tickets wagered online on OSU, PSU is attracting action from wiseguys.
Bet Tonight’s College Hoops Action
Temple at No. 19 Wichita State, 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Bettors continue to hit the Shockers hard in this American Conference clash. The Owls are 8-2 (7-3 ATS) over their last 10 games but are receiving no love from oddsmakers. After opening as 11.5-point road underdogs, Temple is now +12.5 at Wichita State tonight. The one-point difference doesn’t tell the entire story, however. Bettors hit Wichita State so hard Thursday morning that the line jumped as high as 13.5 at some books before slowly coming back down to 12.5, which is where it sits as of this writing. (Track line movement for this game here.)
No. 5 Cincinnati at Houston, 7:00 p.m. ET, CBSSN
This is another American Conference matchup that has already seen plenty of line movement. The Bearcats opened as 3.5-point road favorites versus the Cougars but after the line reached as high as 4, sharp bettors started hitting the home dog hard. As of this writing, Houston is now a 2.5-point underdog despite 62% of the betting tickets being on Cincinnati.
No. 17 Arizona at No. 25 Arizona State, 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
The only Top 25 vs. Top 25 matchup on Thursday’s slate has seen a bevy of line movement as well. After ASU opened as a 1-point home favorite, the line was bet down to a pick’em. It didn’t stay there long, however, as bettors continued to hammer Arizona until the Wildcats were a 1.5-point favorite. The line did come back down to 1 in favor of UofA, but the Wildcats are back to -1.5.
No. 15 Saint Mary’s at San Francisco, 11:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU
If you’re looking for some late night college hoops action, you might want to consider the home dog in this WCC matchup. San Francisco opened as 9.5-point underdogs but despite Saint Mary’s receiving 70% of the betting tickets online, the Gaels are now just 8-point road favorites. That’s an indication of wiseguy action on the Dons.