Weekend College Basketball Picks

Written by Mike Rose

The final weekend of the regular season is upon us. Conference tournament play has already begun with the meat and potato conferences set to tip their respective tourneys next week.

 While a bulk of regular season title winners have already come to term, there’s still plenty of teams fighting for positioning in hopes of bettering their seed. As such, let’s look to add to the bankroll through the weekend so we’ve got more bullets in the chamber for next week. FanDuel Sportsbook is going to have lines, totals, moneylines and props for every game through the weekend, and I can’t wait to get involved with a number of them! The following is a 6-pack of college basketball picks for the first weekend in March – Slam Your Man!

Tennessee Volunteers

A few weeks back, I recommended laying the possession when the Vols invaded Fayetteville for the first of two regular season clashes with the Hogs. Arkansas went on to win that game by 10, but it was nip and tuck mostly all the way through. Now back in the comforts of their own gym and winners of three straight and eight of nine, I recommend siding with Zakai Ziegler and his mates in the rematch. Rick Barnes has got Tennessee locked in right now and they remain unblemished at home (15-0, 9-6 ATS). Look for the record to remain intact and for the Vols to become another team that goes undefeated on its home hardwood.

Purdue Boilermakers

This ones got curb stomping written all over it! PU just pissed away the B1G regular season title in Madison to Wisconsin. Normally I would look to fade a team that saw its title hopes go up in flames, but not in this spot. Not with the Indiana Hoosiers coming to town knowing full well Matt Painter’s troops closing moments 68-65 loss in Bloomington back in late January contributed to the Boilers failing to see their title hopes all the way through. Look for another big game from Jaden Ivey and for the Boilers to win this one going away bringing momentum with them into the Big Ten tourney.

TCU Horned Frogs

Normally I’d be all over West Virginia in this spot with the Horny Toads playing a third game in five days, but I simply just don’t trust the Mountaineers to take advantage of road weary TCU. Huggy Bear’s squad has been a huge disappointment this season. It currently brings up the rear of the Big 12 standings with a grand total of three wins with two coming way back in early January. Jamie Dixon has got TCU on a roll right now, and it’ll be looking to close the regular season out on a high. Hit that moneyline should linemakers open this one up with the Frogs catching any points!

Arizona State Sun Devils

I’ve got Bobby Hurley’s kids as a play-on team in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament. The Sun Devils have come into their own in recent weeks rattling off wins in five of their last six games both SU and ATS. The talent was always there, but injuries and COVID prevented them from putting it all together. That’s not the case right now. With decided wins in tow over Oregon at home and Colorado on the road, ASU is a team that I will ride until the bitter end. Look for them to avenge the earlier season loss to Stanford with ease – this team is dangerous!

Houston Cougars

Though the Coogs already wrapped up the A10 regular season title, I can’t help but think Kyler Edwards and company will be ultra-motivated to put their best foot forward in the rematch with the Tigers. I actually laid the 10-points with Houston when they welcomed Memphis into the Fertitta Center back on February 12, and came away shocked when Memphis returned home with a 10-point win in tow. The Cougars were held to a season-low 59 points even though it shot 46 percent from the field. Their 18 turnovers had much to do with it. I’ll be targeting Houston’s team total in this one with Memphis likely coming in a bit overconfident. This should be a fun one to tip-off Sunday’s slate!

Western Illinois

Last year’s Big Dance Cinderella – Oral Roberts – failed to live up to the expectations that their deep run brought with them in going 18-11 SU overall and 12-6 SU in conference play. I have them on upset alert in the first round of the Summit League tournament against a Western Illinois team it had all kinds of issues with in the regular season. The Leathernecks dropped an 87-86 decision to the Golden Eagles as 3-point home dogs, and then went into the Mabee Center and scored the 90-85 outright win as 7-point dogs in the rematch. Western will be confident regardless of being forced to deal with Max Abmas a third time – he averaged 32.5 points in both meetings! Look for another fast paced, heavy possession high scoring game to play out, and for Western to be in line of pulling out the upset!