Top NCAA Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – February 12th Edition

If the NCAA Tournament were to start today, Virginia would be the No. 1 overall seed even though the Cavs just lost Saturday at home in an upset vs. Virginia Tech. Villanova, Xavier and Purdue would also get No. 1 seeds. The No. 2 seeds are: Auburn, Kansas, Duke and Cincinnati. Here are two interesting NCAA Basketball betting matchups this week. Check back at MyBookie for the latest college basketball odds. Rankings likely to change on Monday.

Top NCAA Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – February 12th Edition

Here is Sunday morning’s updated @CBSSports Top 25 (and one) college basketball rankings from @GaryParrishCBS.
1. Virginia
2. Villanova
3. Michigan State
4. Xavier
5. Purdue
6. Cincinnati
7. Texas Tech
8. Duke
9. Auburn
10. Gonzaga …https://t.co/FuO2P0udz5

— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) February 11, 2018

No. 17 Oklahoma at No. 7 Texas Tech

When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET (ESPN) Raise your hand if you had Texas Tech winning the Big 12 regular-season title. Yeah, didn’t think so. The Red Raiders are one of the nation’s biggest surprises and are atop the country’s deepest conference, leading Kansas by a game. KU, which already has lost once to TTU, has won an incredible 13 straight Big 12 regular-season titles, tying a record for most ever in a row with UCLA. Texas Tech won its sixth straight game Saturday, 66-47 at Kansas State. The game was tied at the half, but on the defensive end Tech was locked in for the entire 2nd half. The Red Raiders allowed the Wildcats to score only 20 points for the half, shoot 5-for-19 from the field and not score for the final four minutes of the game.  Keenan Evans led a balanced attack with a game-leading 19 points as four players collected double figures for TTU. The 19-point margin of victory was the largest for Texas Tech during a Big 12 road game. The previous mark was a trio of 18-point wins, most recently an 84-66 triumph at No. 21 Baylor on Feb. 13, 2016. Texas Tech’s 9-3 start in Big 12 action is the best in program history and the best conference start for the program since the 1995-96 team under James Dickey ran through the final season of the Southwest Conference with a 14-0 mark.

How Have the Red Raiders So Far This Season?

Texas Tech has registered wins in 21 of its first 25 games for the third time in program history. This year’s squad joins the 1953-54 team under Polk Robison which concluded the regular season with a 21-4 record. The 1995-96 team turned in a 30-1 start ignited by a program-record 23-game winning streak. Oklahoma has one of the nation’s best players in freshman Trae Young, but he can’t do it alone. The Sooners lost their third in a row Saturday, 88-80 at Iowa State. The Cyclones ran the Sooners out of the building in the first half, holding Young to just one 3 in the opening 19 minutes while building a lead that stretched to 40-23. Young finished with 22 points and 11 assists, but he was just 1 of 8 on 3s with six turnovers. OU has lost six in a row on the road. On Jan. 9, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 75-65. Young had 22 of his 27 points in the second half. He was 6-for-11 shooting after intermission after going 1-for-12 in the first half. Young also had nine assists and four steals. His father Rayford averaged 14.1 points for Texas Tech from 1996 to 2000. Christian James had 15 points and Khadeem Lattin added 11 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks for the Sooners. Keenan Evans scored 19 points for Texas Tech. He was the only Red Raider to reach double figures. Tech shot 37 percent overall.

No. 23 Nevada at Boise State

When: Wednesday, 11 PM ET (ESPNU) It’s the game of the year in the Mountain West Conference. Nevada has a half-game lead over Boise State. Both schools likely have done enough to make the NCAA Tournament even if neither wins the conference tournament. Nevada would all but lock down the regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tourney with a win here because it already beat Boise state on Jan. 20, 74-68. The game featured 10 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points. Caleb Martin had 28 points to lead the Wolf Pack. Martin made 11 of 22 from the field, including four 3-pointers. Jordan Caroline finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Chandler Hutchison led Boise with 27 points. Christian Sengfelder added 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Martin is currently out indefinitely with a ligament injury in his left foot. He was in the running to win Mountain West Player of the Year honors. His identical twin Cody is also on the team and is probably the more well-rounded player. As freshmen at NC State, they played meaningful minutes for a team that went to the Sweet 16. As sophomores, they played starters minutes. But they wanted a place where they could have more freedom. So they transferred to Nevada.

Who Well Has NC State Been Lately?

The Wolf Pack are off an 83-58 rout of San Diego State on Saturday. Caroline scored 26 points and Lindsay Drew just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Kendall Stephens added 21 points for Nevada. The Wolf Pack rebounded after falling to UNLV last Wednesday night for their first home game of the season. Boise State was upset by Utah State on Saturday, 71-65.  The Broncos committed 16 turnovers and went scoreless over a 4-minute stretch late in the second half. Hutchison scored the Broncos’ final 11 points and finished with 28 points and six rebounds, but he also had four turnovers and zero assists. “Our defense didn’t get it done down the stretch, really, when you look at it,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “… We let them make too many threes, and we turned it over way too many times.”

Expert NCAA Basketball Betting Predictions of the Week

Oklahoma just isn’t very good away from home so take Texas Tech. Boise State knocks off Nevada.