UCF vs. Cincinnati College Basketball Crown Predictions (Thursday)
Missing March Madness and all its glory as you twiddle your thumbs waiting for Saturday? Not to worry. We've got you covered with the College Basketball Crown continuing tonight with two 2nd round matchups on tap featuring UCF-Cincinnati and Villanova-USC. It's not exactly the magic of March Madness but it's basketball and that means we can gamble on it and man is that exactly what I'm here for to find the best plays for today's games. Let's jump into UCF vs. Cincinnati.
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Thursday's College Basketball Crown Best Bets: UCF vs. Cincinnati
Unless specified otherwise, each bet will be a single unit.
UCF vs. Cincinnati
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena – Las Vegas, NV
Spread: Cincinnati -6.5| Total: 152.5
It's a bit wonky to handicap these games as there's another "care" factor thrown into these matchups. UCF barely squeaked by Oregon State while Cincy pummeled DePaul for both squads' paths to getting here. The Golden Knights are without JJ Taylor, Mikey Williams, Roma's Jucius and, unless something changes, Keyshawn Hall. The last one is big. Cincy's drop defense is going to prove troublesome for UCF's offense, who can't exactly depend on shooting over the Bearcats to keep up in this game. Getting to the rim won't be easy either, and even if they do, Cincy ranks 26th in near proximity defense without fouling, which the Golden Knights have historically leaned heavily upon. Cincy will dominate down low offensively, cleaning up on the offensive glass where UCF ranks 322nd at defensive second-chance conversion percentage allowed. This is an inflated line but I wouldn't be surprised if UCF threw in the towel after the first half. Even if Cincy isn't shooting well, there's still a clear path for them to dominate this game.
Prediction: Cincinnati 79, UCF 70
Best Bet: Cincinnati -5.5 (-118 DraftKings)
Ryan Coleman is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @ryancoleman_98. For more from Ryan, check out his archive.