College Basketball Hot and Cold – 2/9/22

We’re almost midway through the month of February, meaning postseason play is right around the corner. Over the last week, we’ve seen the No. 1 team, Auburn, go down for the first time in 20 games. A loss to Arkansas was the Tigers’ first SEC defeat on the year.

Duke also went down over the weekend in a one-point loss to Virginia. With some teams at the top dropping key conference matchups, we could see some shuffling atop the polls. It might offer the perfect opportunity for national championship favorite Gonzaga (+575) to sneak back into the No. 1 ranking.

While some schools have suffered unlikely defeats, others are trending up as March Madness nears. Check out BetMaker for the latest edition of Hot and Cold before placing your next NCAAB bets.

All odds courtesy of SugarHouse online sportsbook

Who’s Hot?

Arkansas Razorbacks

The Razorbacks shocked the world last night, taking down top-ranked Auburn in an overtime thriller. The win was Arkansas’s ninth in a row, as they’ve now jumped out to a 19-5 overall record. SEC play began precariously for the Hogs, as they lost their first three games. Following that 0-3 start, though, they’ve been able to land eight straight conference wins to move into third place in the league.

Arkansas has been a college basketball best bet over this nine-game streak, posting an impressive 8-1 record against the spread. That includes outright upset wins over LSU and previously mentioned Auburn. They’ll look to push the winning streak to 10 games this weekend in a meeting with Alabama.

Houston Cougars

The Cougars have won 12 straight games to move to 20-2 on the season. More impressively, those two losses have come by a combined total of three points, with close losses to Alabama and Wisconsin early in the year.

Houston was ranked No. 6 in the latest AP Poll and with a strong end to the season, they’ll be in No. 1 seed contention for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Cougars will try to extend their winning streak tonight in a matchup versus SMU. Houston enters as a seven-point road favorite at SugarHouse.

Purdue Boilermakers

The Boilermakers have been one of college basketball’s best teams over the course of the season, posting an impressive 21-3 overall record. That includes a Big Ten best 10-3 mark in conference action. The strong play has earned them a top five national ranking and has them in position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Purdue has won six straight games with impressive scoring outputs. Over that time, the Boilermakers are averaging 83 points a night, topping the 80-point mark in each win. That strong offensive play has led to the over hitting in five of those last six contests.

Who’s Cold?

Louisville Cardinals

The Cardinals have flat out struggled in ACC play. After staring conference action 4-0 and jumping out to a 10-4 overall start, Louisville has lost eight of their last nine games to fall below .500 on the year. The team is just 11-12 with a 5-8 mark in league play, meaning their postseason hopes are dwindling.

As bad as Louisville has been in the win column, they’ve been even worse against the spread. The Cardinals are just 1-11-1 in their last 13 games against NCAAB betting lines. They’ll try to right the ship tonight with a matchup versus Notre Dame. The Irish enter as 7.5-point favorites at SugarHouse.

Florida State Seminoles

Florida State was in the “hot” column not too long ago after ripping off six straight ACC wins, including an upset over Duke. Since then, the Seminoles have lost four in a row to fall back to .500 in conference play.

FSU is 0-4 against the spread in that time, losing three of those contests outright as a betting favorite. Next up is a meeting versus Pittsburgh tonight, which presents a chance to end this losing skid. The Seminoles enter as 10.5-point favorites.

Texas A&M Aggies

The Aggies have been struggling in conference, dropping seven straight SEC games. This, coming after starting league play with a perfect 4-0 record. Texas A&M is now 15-9 on the year and their postseason aspirations are slipping.

Over this seven-game skid, the Aggies are giving up around 74 points a night. That total is well above their regular season average of 66 points. For that reason, the over is 6-1 in Texas A&M’s last seven matchups. They’ll face an angry Auburn team on Saturday who’s coming off their first loss in SEC play.