Tuesday's Best Bets in College Basketball: We go to the Southland

Tuesday's Best Bets in College Basketball: We go to the Southland

Another huge slate in college basketball tonight and one of my favorite picks of the night comes from the Southland Conference in a matchup between Nicholls St and Texas AM-CC. My second pick comes in an SEC matchup between Auburn and Miss St. Let's get to it.

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Texas AM-CC vs Nicholls St

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I have bet on both of these teams numerous times this season as they have both been solid at covering spreads and hitting overs but tonight, I look to back the favorite. This will be the 3rd matchup between these teams this season.

The first matchup, Nicholls jumped out to a huge lead and nearly choked it away late but held on to cover their -3 spread. In the second matchup, Nicholls was at home and were -6.5/7 point favorites and managed to escape with an overtime win thanks to a second half comeback.

Texas AM CC did cover the spread though, and now we get the rare third matchup of the season in a sandwich spot. I think Nicholls will be able to use some of that momentum and confidence from their last matchup with Texas AM-CC from that overtime win and turn that into a strong first half start in this one.

Texas AM-CC has struggled against the better teams in the Southland and Nicholls has the best player in the league in Ty Gordon, who is averaging nearly 22 points per game on the season. Gordon should be able to get whatever he wants offensively and create for others at the same time. Texas AM-CC is also in the bottom 300 in the country in most major offensive categories and do not think they have the firepower to keep up with Nicholls St in this one early. With that being said, I am rolling with Nicholls St 1H ML at -125 for one of my most confident college basketball picks of the night.

Texas AM-CC vs Nicholls St Pick

• Nicholls St 1H ML -125 (Bet $125 to win $100)

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Mississippi State vs Auburn

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Auburn is a team who has emerged as one of the best teams in the country, but they have struggled on the road this season. With that being said though, almost every team in the SEC has struggled on the road this year as the top five teams in the conference (Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Alabama) are a combined 77-4 at home this season.

Those are simply absurd numbers so Auburn's losses on the road are not isolated events compared to the rest of the conference. In this game, they will face a solid Mississippi State team, but I think Auburn is going to be able to lock them up defensively. Defense travels and Mississippi State's Achilles heel is their anemic offense.

Mississippi State is currently ranked 163rd in offensive effective field goal percentage, 321st in 3-point percentage, and 219th in offensive turnover percentage. Auburn has been stifling on defense this season as they are currently ranked eighth in overall adjusted defensive efficiency, eighth in defensive effective field goal percentage, and 4th in the nation in defensive 2-point percentage. They are also number 1 in the nation in block percentage thanks to the rim protection of 7-footer Walker Kessler and the 6'10, athletic forward Jabari Smith. On paper, these two teams have similar personnel, but Mississippi St has struggled against the big boys of the SEC.

They lost by 5 to Alabama, by 4 to LSU, by 9 to Tennessee, by 8 to Kentucky, and even lost by 8 to Florida. They are good enough to compete but always seem to fall short. With that being said, I am rolling with Auburn 1H -1.5 -115 for one of my most confident college basketball picks of the night as I think Auburn will bounce back strong after their loss to Tennessee.

Auburn vs Mississippi State Pick

• Auburn 1H -1.5 -115 (Bet $115 to win $100)