Top NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week – January 9th Edition

With the national No. 1 ranking back under their belts, the NCAAB betting odds favorite Villanova Wildcats will look to hold it down when they host No. 10 Xavier in a huge Big East battle. No. 24 Florida State and No. 11 Arizona State will both be in action this week looking to pick up momentum-boosting victories. Now, let’s find some college basketball betting value as all three national championship hopefuls take the court!

Top NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week – January 9th Edition

There’s a new No. 1 in the @AP_Top25 poll https://t.co/JNpULEHvTn pic.twitter.com/UmnhzJrjqN

— College Basketball (@br_CBB) 8 de enero de 2018

No. 10 Xavier (15-2) at No. 1 Villanova (14-1)

• When: Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 8:00 PM ET
• Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Philadelphia, PA
• TV: FS1

Villanova bounced back from their only loss of the season against Butler to beat Marquette 100-90 just as I predicted last week. Point guard Jalen Brunson had 27 points and eight assists to lead the loaded Wildcats to victory. Villanova is also the only team in last week’s national top-7 that didn’t lose, so Jay Wright’s team is back to being the No. 1 team in the AP national rankings this week. No. 10 Xavier suffered their second loss of the season and saw their 10-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt by falling to Providence 81-72 on Saturday, Star point guard Trevon Bluiett went scoreless in the second half against Providence while shooting 0-for-4 from the field with only one free throw attempt. For this Wednesday night matchup of top title contenders, I like the Villanova Wildcats to hold it down at home against Xavier simply because they’ve got more depth and a much better frontcourt than the Musketeers. Just two players average double figures for Xavier while five average double digits for Villanova. It’s that simple! NCAAB Betting Pick: Villanova 83 – Xavier 75

Louisville at No. 24 Florida State

• When: Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 9:00 PM ET
• Where: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, FL
• TV: ACC Network

Louisville has lost two of its last three and suffered a 74-69 overtime road loss to No. 25 Clemson on Saturday. Ray Spaulding led Louisville with 16 points and 14 rebounds, all while being limited to just 29 minutes because of foul trouble. Deng Adel added 14 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Unfortunately, the Cardinals couldn’t overcome 21 turnovers in the loss. One game after beating North Carolina just as I predicted, No. 24 Florida State ended up on the wrong end of an 80-74 loss against ACC rival, No. 15 Miami on Sunday. The Seminoles closed the gap on a 16-point second half deficit with a late rally to cut the lead to four points with 24 seconds remaining, but they couldn’t finish after digging themselves into a big hole. Brian Angola had 16 points and five steals for Florida State, which shot a season-low 36 percent. Miami ranked second nationally in scoring defense, held the Seminoles well below their season average of 85.4. “In the second half we were a little more aggressive,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “But we had dug such a hole, it was hard to pull out of it.” For this Wednesday night showdown, I’m backing Florida State as the pick to win by a half-dozen points. Florida State is averaging just over 84 points per game while Louisville put up just over 76 per contest and only three points separate the two defensively. In closing, let me sat that interim Louisville head coach Dave Padgett is doing a phenomenal job coaching the Cardinals in the face of some serious adversity that would have completely crippled other programs. NCAAB Betting Pick: Florida State 77 – Louisville 71

Oregon (11-5) at No. 11 Arizona State (13-2)

• When: Thursday, January 11, 2018, 10:00 PM ET
• Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe, AZ
• TV: FS1

Oregon has dropped two of its last three games including their 76-64 road loss to Oregon State on Friday night. Oregon State shot 53 percent compared to 36 percent for Oregon and outrebounded the Ducks 43-36. Paul White came off the bench and had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists for Oregon while Victor Bailey Jr. scored 11 points, for the Ducks. Still, it wasn’t nearly enough. “I’m really disappointed in our effort. They simply played harder than we did in the second half,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. Arizona State beat Utah 80-77 on Sunday to snap a two-game skid. Shannon Evans scored 22 points to help Arizona State hold on to what could best be described as an ugly win. For this Thursday night Pac-12 pairing, I’m going to advise you to back Arizona State to get the win by five, seeing as how they’re the better offensive teams but slightly lesser defensive ballclub in this contest. The Sun Devils are a perfect 8-0 at home this season and simply have more offensive firepower than the Ducks this season. NCAAB Betting Pick: Arizona State 81 – Oregon 76