Thursday was a sports bettor's dream. From the first slate of games that saw a buzzer beater to a west coast game going into the wee hours of the night, we had wall-to-wall college basketball coverage.
And guess what, there’s more today.
Here are three bets that I see value in on Friday’s card.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Cincinnati (+5.5, 143) vs. SMU - 3 PM EST
SMU is playing their first game since February 8th and I can’t see how they are laying this many against a Cincinnati team that at the very least has been active.
The Mustangs had eight games cancelled, and their head coach Tim Jankovich said that he won’t have a full roster come Friday.
We won’t know who will be on the floor for SMU, but the Bearcats will get some reinforcements in guard David DeJulius, who is returning to the team after opting out of the season a few weeks ago.
Assuming SMU star guard Kendric Davis is on the floor, DeJulius will provide a timely boost to contain him.
Both teams are going to look to push the pace -- each are inside the top 100 in adjusted tempo per KenPom -- and there can be some weary legs on the SMU sideline down the stretch.
Cincy was catching 5.5 in Dallas earlier this year and beat SMU outright. While the Bearcats are by no means a great team, this situation doesn’t call for the same line.
Pick: Cincinnati +5.5, play to +4.5.
Georgetown (+3.5, 141.5) vs. Seton Hall - 6 PM EST
Odds via SouthPoint Sportsbook
Let’s go for three in a row with the Hoyas.
Georgetown showed incredible poise to rally in the second half to beat Villanova at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
While Seton Hall needs this game for any chance at making the NCAA Tournament, I’m not blindly following that narrative.
The Pirates just had a physical game against St. John’s yesterday, an overtime battle that featured 43 fouls. I didn’t come away very impressed with the Hall in that one, who came in losing four straight, one of them being to Georgetown on the road.
I’m going to keep harping on the same thing for the Hoyas, three-point attempts and offensive rebounds. Seton Hall is dead last in opponent three-point percentage in Big East play and are going up against the Big East’s best three-point shooting team.
Also, Qudus Wahab is really coming into his own down low, as the 6’11” sophomore had 17 points against Villanova. The Hoyas were the second best team in conference play in generating offensive rebounds while the Pirates were ninth in defensive rebounding rate.
Keep an eye out for tired legs and expect another thriller at the Garden. I'm banking on Georgetown to not regress too hard from the charity stripe after going 23-for-23 against Nova.
Pick: Georgetown +3.5, play to +2.5
Texas (PK, 136) vs. Kansas - 9:30 PM EST
I know, I faded Kansas on Thursday night and that didn’t work, but that’s not scaring me off of Texas on Friday.
Without David McCormack, the Jayhawks were forced to use a small ball lineup, but found great success. The team was able to blitz Oklahoma and generate 11 turnovers in the first half. However, Austin Reaves was able to pick it up in the second half and the Sooners had it within three at one point.
On Friday, Kansas is going to have trouble dealing with versatile Texas big men Jericho Sims, Kai Jones and Greg Brown, who can dominate on the block or step out and play along the perimeter.
Kansas was able to get inside and score with ease on Thursday, hitting on 52% of their two-point attempts, but the Longhorn defense was No. 1 in Big 12 play in two-point defense. That means points won’t come as easily for KU today.
On offense, Texas should be able to make the undersized Jayhawks pay more than Oklahoma was able to. After the Sooners came out as flat as possible in the first half, they were able to claw back in the second half. This is a Kansas team running a seven-man rotation and without their most used player, there can be some fatigue, as evident in the second half.
Texas should be favored with the loss of McCormack.
Pick: Texas PK, play to -1