3 Best College Basketball Bets and Player Props for Friday 1/31/25

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.

Let's check out FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds and select some of the best bets of the day by utilizing the mentioned tools.

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

Today's Best College Basketball Betting Picks

Dayton Flyers at Saint Louis Billikens

Dayton Moneyline (+102)

Dayton comes into Friday's duel with Saint Louis as the more efficient team, ranked 88th at Bart Torvik while the Billikens are back at 117th. The Flyers' offense is the best unit of this matchup by a landslide, sitting 42nd in adjusted offensive efficiency while every other unit is 129th or worse.

While Dayton looks to be the clear pick, this is still a daunting conference game on the road. The Flyers are in the 80th percentile of close twos shot distribution, and Saint Louis is outside the top 100 in shot distribution allowed for close twos. Additionally, the Billikens are in the 34th percentile of three-point shots allowed per game, and Dayton is efficient from beyond the arc at 36.5% (84th percentile).

We have enough to expect Dayton's success on offense to keep up. The possession battle could be the deciding factor for this upset pick.

On average, Saint Louis is out shot by giving up 62.8 field goal attempts per game (7th percentile) while attempting 54.5 shots per contest (10th percentile). The Billikens are in the 30th percentile of turnovers per game compared to the Flyers in the 93rd percentile of the same category. As if that wasn't enough, Dayton is the better rebounding team by sitting in the 75th percentile of defensive rebounding percentage while Saint Louis is in the 57th percentile.

With the Flyers rated as the more efficient team, a win should be in line if Dayton wins the possession battle like we expect.

Brown Bears at Pennsylvania Quakers

Under 143.5 Points (-106)

Friday's Ivy League clash between Brown and Pennsylvania screams the under. Each squad is in the 68th percentile for the slowest paces in college basketball. Neither offense is much to worry about either, sitting in the 45th percentile of points per game (PPG).

Focusing on each offense's individual matchup, let's start with the Bears. Brown has the more efficient offense of the two, ranked 207th in efficiency while Penn is 239th in the category. The Bears lean on the three-ball, sitting in the 37th percentile of shot distribution for close twos and in the 72nd percentile for three-point shot distribution. This is further emphasized by Brown in the 76th percentile for made and attempted threes per game.

The Quakers have the defense to slow the three-ball, ranking in the 66th percentile of three-point attempts allowed per game and in the 76th percentile of three-point shot distribution allowed.

On the other side of the court, Penn also launches threes in abundance, sporting 25.9 shots per contest (82nd percentile) along with a 45.6% shot distribution (86th percentile). Just like the Quakers' defense, the Bears have a solid perimeter defense that holds opposing teams to 19.9 three-point shots per game (87th percentile) and a 32.9% shot distribution (95th percentile).

Poor three-point shooting and slow paces certainly points to few points. Bart Torvik's game projections have this total reaching only 139 points, as well.

Indiana Hoosiers at No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers

Trey Kaufman-Renn Over 26.5 Total Points + Rebounds (-115)

Since the new year, Purdue has been excellent with an 8-1 record. Outside of January 21's upset loss against Ohio State, the Boilermakers have been near-perfect. They've come up with some mind-boggling wins of late, including a 91-64 victory over Michigan as only four-point favorites on January 24th.

Junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn has been a major piece of the puzzle, logging 19.0 PPG and 6.3 rebounds per game (RPG). That puts him a shade under tonight's 26.5 total points and rebounds prop. However, he's gone over this combo in three of the last four, recording 20.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG over the four-game stretch.

According to Bart Torvik's player splits, Kaufman-Renn pretty much exclusively shoots two-pointers, taking 40.9% of his attempts at the rim while 56.4% are considered "other twos." Tonight's opponent -- Indiana -- looks like a defense that Kaufman-Renn can attack. The Hoosiers are 68th in adjusted defensive efficiency and rank 173rd in close twos shot distribution allowed.

Alongside his ability to score, the Boilermakers are heavily leaning on the junior forward for boards due to the season-ending injury to center Daniel Jacobsen. Purdue is in the 36th percentile of defensive rebounding percentage, making this a clear concern against the Hoosiers, who are in the 76th percentile of the same category. Someone has to grab boards, and Kaufman-Renn has led the pack in rebounds per game. He's grabbed six boards in four of the last five, averaging 6.6 RPG during the stretch.

Kaufman-Renn has the recent numbers to make this pick hit. His chance of reaching around that 20-point mark gives me confidence in the over.

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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.