Could this be the last season that Bill Self is head coach at Kansas? The men’s basketball program has been accused of major NCAA violations under his watch and then last week was involved in a very embarrassing brawl against rival Kansas State on national TV. Many think Self might bail for the NBA. Here’s a look at two intriguing college basketball matchups early this week. Check back for college basketball odds.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – January 20th Edition
No. 5 Florida State at Virginia
- When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET (ESPN)
Could the defending national champion Wahoos actually miss the NCAA Tournament? They are far from locks this season as they are struggling. A step back was expected after losing a ton of talent off last year’s team but nothing this drastic. Florida State, meanwhile, is battling for the ACC regular-season title and potentially a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance.
FSU goes for the season sweep of UVA, although they could meet in the ACC Tournament. On Jan. 15, the Noles won 54-50 at home. Devin Vassell scored 18 points, including a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final seconds. Anthony Polite came off the bench to drill four 3-pointers for the Seminoles. Polite had a career-high 14 points. Florida State had 16 turnovers but the Noles created 10 steals, blocked five shots and forced Virginia into 18 turnovers. Mamadi Diakite scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting for Virginia, which made just 21 shots from the floor. Tomas Woldetensae was 3 of 4 from 3-point range but the rest of the Cavaliers were 0 for 11 from beyond the arc.
Florida State (17-2, 7-1 ACC) enters on a 10-game winning streak. It beat Notre Dame 85-84 on Saturday. The Irish missed several chances to win in the final seconds. Wyatt Wilkes came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points to lead the Noles. The redshirt sophomore hit 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range and easily surpassed his previous career high of 14 points. Wilkes played nearly 19 minutes, seeing more playing time because forward Patrick Williams (toe) missed the game. Balsa Koprivica returned after missing four games due to injury for Florida State. The freshman center had six points and six rebounds.
Notre Dame made 22-of-27 free-throw attempts – compared to 13-of-14 for FSU – while the Seminoles missed their final nine shots over the last 5:16 of the game.
Virginia (13-5, 5-4) won 65-63 in OT at Wake Forest on Sunday. Woldetensae scored a career-high 21 points and Virginia got a final-play stop. The UVA offense has been a particular problem all year, with the Cavaliers ranked 255th nationally in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency (98.5 points per 100 possessions). Virginia rallied despite making just 9 of 30 shots (30%) in the second half and has yet to score more than 65 points in any game.
No. 4 San Diego State at New Mexico
- When: Wednesday, 9 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)
First of two meetings between these schools as New Mexico goes to San Diego on Feb. 11 – they could also meet in the Mountain West Tournament. Last season, they split. The Aztecs lost 83-70 in Albuquerque. Anthony Mathis scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers in a 22-6 run to start the second half, as New Mexico overcame an early-double deficit. Keith McGee scored 19 points for the Lobos, all in the second half. Jalen McDaniels had 25 points for the Aztecs and Devin Watson added 13.
San Diego State (21-0, 10-0) is the only unbeaten team left in the country. It escaped at UNLV on Sunday, 71-67. Malachi Flynn scored 21 points, and Trey Pulliam added a career-high 18 points as SDSU broke the school records for best start and longest winning streak in the program’s 99 seasons. Jordan Schakel contributed 11 points for the Aztecs. San Diego State had won 20 straight games twice before — during the 2010-11 and 2013-14 seasons. The latter team made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and finished 31-5.
The Aztecs, who rank fifth in the nation in limiting opposing teams to just 36.7% shooting from the floor, held UNLV to 11 of 27 shooting, including 2 for 12 (16.7%) from 3-point range. It was San Diego State’s fifth straight win over UNLV and eighth consecutive road victory. San Diego State’s 25 victories over UNLV since the start of the 2008-09 campaign are tied for the most wins by any Division I school against another team. The Aztecs are 10-1 against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center, while the rest of the country is 30-65.
New Mexico (16-6, 5-4) was clobbered at Nevada 96-74 on Saturday. The Lobos were led by redshirt-junior Zane Martin, who collected a season-high 23 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds. UNM fell behind early and went into the halftime break down by its second-largest halftime deficit of the season, 20 points (49-29), but came out shooting in the second half. The Lobos were outscored by just two points, 47-45 in the second half.
As for this game, the last time the Lobos hosted an undefeated top-10 opponent, UNM came away with an exciting 85-58 victory over then undefeated No. 5/6 Nevada.
Expert College Basketball Betting Picks
New Mexico pulls the upset and FSU wins at Virginia
