College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (2/2)

Many college basketball fans and bettors are looking ahead to arguably the most anticipated Saturday of the regular season to date, as three AP top 10 matchups (one from the ACC, Big 12, and SEC) await. However, that should not take away from what is an underrated 15-game Friday slate which features games from the Big East and Big Ten Conferences, as well as the Ivy League game of the year to date as Princeton visits Yale. In all, there are two top 25 teams in action, and we highlight two of the most intriguing Friday matchups in today’s best bets article.

Read on for Friday’s College Basketball best bets.

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Friday's College Basketball Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Ohio State @ Iowa (-4.5) | O/U 157 (-108/-112)

Ohio State enters this matchup having lost six of its last seven games, and has lost all five of its true Big Ten road games by an average of 11.2 points per game. Meanwhile, Iowa has won 84.4% of its games (38-7 SU) as home favorites since 2021, and began league play with home wins against Rutgers and Nebraska, with each victory coming by nine-plus points. However, the Hawkeyes have underperformed at home of late, losing back-to-back contests to Purdue and Maryland, and we still expect to be on the contrarian side with this play given that the Buckeyes have a goose egg in the win column on the road this season.

Iowa’s offensive numbers are impressive, ranking 18th in adjusted offensive efficiency and sixth in turnover rate (13.3%), while playing at the 14th-fastest tempo in the country. While those numbers seem par for the course for a Fran McCaffery-coached team, the Hawkeyes do not closely resemble many of their recent teams, as they are on pace to end the season with the lowest 3-point rate (30.8% ranks 318th in the country) in the McCaffery era. Thus, Iowa plays more through its bigs than ever before, which could play into Ohio State’s hands, if they are smart enough to deploy elite shot blocker and rim protector Felix Okpara (ninth in the country in block percentage, second in the Big Ten) on Hawkeyes second-leading scorer Ben Krikke.

Ohio State has allowed at least 1.30 points per possession in each game of its recent three-game losing streak, and while that is an issue against an offense as efficient as Iowa’s, Chris Holtmann’s squad held the Hawkeyes to 77 or fewer points in two of three meetings last year. If the Buckeyes can hold Iowa under 80 again, they should find enough offense to cover this spread against an Iowa defense they can bully at the rim (the Hawkeyes rank dead-last in the Big Ten in 2-point percentage allowed at 56.5%).

Iowa has not been the best team on shorter rest this season, going 4-8 ATS with 2-3 days off. Thus, we are firing away on this contrarian play, and expect the Buckeyes to cover, even if they remain winless on the road.

Bet: Ohio State +4.5 (-108)

Princeton @ Yale (-3.5)| O/U 140.5 (-110/-110)

Last year, Princeton became the second Ivy League school to make the Sweet 16 in the past 43 NCAA tournaments, and it was the school’s first Sweet 16 since 1967, when just 23 teams were invited to the “Big Dance.” Yet for all of that notoriety and success, it was Yale who was picked as the favorite in the Ivy League preseason poll, as the Bulldogs returned 67.2% of their minutes from last season (top 20 in the country).

Princeton may have been seen as the second-best team after losing do-it-all forward Tosan Evbuomwan, who ranked in the top-six of the conference in assist rate, free throw rate, possession percentage, and minutes percentage. The Tigers have managed just fine in his absence, ranking in the top 10 nationally in 2-point shooting and turnover percentage. However, Cornell exposed Princeton’s lack of frontcourt depth last weekend, shooting 73.5% (25-of-34) inside the arc, and winning by 15 points.

Yale proved a bad matchup for Princeton last year, winning both regular season matchups, including the one at home by 22 points. This year, the Bulldogs rank first in Ivy League play in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, and in both 2-point and 3-point percentage allowed. That success has come despite playing one top-four Ivy League team and three of their first four league games on the road. The Bulldogs are 4-0 ATS in league games this year, and are 6-1-1 ATS on long rest (four-plus days off). We expect them to win (while covering) for the sixth time in the last seven home matchups against Princeton.

Bet: Yale -3.5 (-108)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday:

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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.