2 Best College Basketball Bets and Player Props for Iowa State at Houston

The college basketball season is rolling along, giving us plentiful betting options with so many teams in action each day.

Fortunately, we have abundant tools available that can aid our chances of finding good betting value. Bart Torvik and KenPom are excellent sources that give insights into team-level efficiency, and Sports Reference provides a wide range of useful team stats, as well.

On Saturday, we've got a Big 12 showdown as fifth-ranked Houston hosts eighth-ranked Iowa State at 2 p.m. ET.

Let's check out FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds to find the best bets and player props for Iowa State-Houston.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

Iowa State at Houston Betting Picks

Houston -7.5 (-105)

I think Iowa State is one of the best teams in the country. They're excellent and rank in the top 11 by both KenPom's and Torvik's models. But Houston is a level above, and I like the Cougars to cover as 7.5-point home favorites.

Torvik rates Houston as the nation's number-one team. It has Kelvin Sampson's bunch first in adjusted defense and sixth in adjusted offense. The Cougars have lost once since November 30th, and that game went to overtime. In fact, three of Houston's four losses have been OT affairs, with a five-point neutral-site loss to Auburn being the lone exception.

KenPom loves Houston, too, ranking the Cougars third in defense and seventh in offense.

Iowa State rates out worse both offensively and defensively than Houston does, although Iowa State's numbers are pretty dang good (18th in O and 10th in D, per KenPom). They've also shown some cracks in the armor lately, losing four of their past 10 outings, with three of those defeats coming on the road.

Torvik projects Houston to win by 10.3 points.

Keshon Gilbert Over 9.5 Points (-115)

Gilbert is averaging 14.1 points per game for the season. There's a reason his points prop is low for this clash with Houston, but I think it's too low.

As we just touched on, Houston's defense is an elite, top-tier unit. KenPom ranks Houston's D third while Torvik has them slotted first. This is going to be a really tough spot for the Cyclones' offense.

But Gilbert has shown he's capable of scoring the rock against top-notch defenses. He scored 11 points in one of Iowa State's meetings versus Kansas (No. 6 KenPom D) -- although he had 7 in the other game with the Jayhawks -- 13 against West Virginia (No. 18), 17 versus Arizona (No. 9) and 23 against Auburn (No. 11).

Gilbert is a 73.5% free-throw shooter across his four-year career, and 10 points is a bar he can clear despite the brutally tough matchup.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.