3 Best College Basketball Bets and Player Props for Friday 2/7/25

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

USC at Purdue

Braden Smith (PUR) To Record 10+ Assists (+140)

USC concludes their latest Midwest road trip in West Lafayette tonight as they'll take on Purdue at 7pm ET. I'm right in line with the spread (Purdue -12.5) and total (144.5) -- though I do like the Boilermakers' chances on offense against this Trojans defense. As such, this is the spot to target a player prop, specifically Braden Smith to record 10+ assists.

Smith ranks third nationally with 8.3 assists per game, and he's flashed major passing upside in Big Ten play. Across 12 conference games, the junior has notched double-digit dimes five times. He crept up to 14 assists twice.

Now, Smith has failed to register 10 assists in five of his last six games, but he'd hit that mark in four of five prior to this stretch.

This matchup is one that should get Smith back on track in the assist department. USC is down at 89th in KenPom's adjusted defense, and they're in the bottom half of the Big Ten in points and assists allowed per game. They've been plenty friendly to point guards (PGs) in conference playing, letting up the second-most assists (per 40 min) to the position.

Smith has already faced the other four teams in the bottom 10 for assists allowed to PGs. In those four games, he netted 7, 10, 14, and 14 assists. The one game he didn't notch double-digit dimes came against Indiana -- the friendliest scoring matchup for PGs, one Smith took advantage of with 24 points of his own.

Still, I'm expecting Smith to get his teammates more involved with the Boilermakers favored big at home. Against a lackluster USC defense, consider Braden Smith to record 10+ assists at +140 odds.

VCU at Dayton

Phillip Russell (VCU) To Score 15+ Points (+172)

VCU visits Dayton in game one of this week's FridA10 double-header at 7pm ET. VCU (35th) and Dayton (76th) are two of the Atlantic 10's top three teams based on KenPom's ratings while this game's 1.5-point spread hints at a tight game at UD Arena. Though it's tempting to back VCU to win outright (-116 odds), I'd rather get my exposure to the Rams via the prop market.

Not just any prop market, either; in what should be one of the more difficult games on VCU's schedule, this is a spot to consider an alt. points prop for Rams guard Phillip Russel.

The 6-foot senior averages 11.3 points per game and ranks third on the team in usage rate (15.3%). He's kicked that up to 12.3 points and a 17.8% usage rate in conference play -- and that's with his minutes fluctuating dramatically. With VCU bowling over much of the A10's bottom-feeders, Russell's been kept under 25 minutes in five of nine games. All of those were games the Rams won by double-digits, but VCU has given him extended run in close games.

That's translated to some lofty scoring outputs. Russell has cracked 15 points in three of four conference games playing at least 25 minutes. In total, he's seen that much playing time nine times this season, notching at least 15 points in six of those.

Considering the tight spread and Dayton's undersized lineup, I'm expecting Russell to see as much run as he can handle. He's proven capable of clearing this mark with regularity when allocated the minutes, and the Flyers are a dream matchup for guards.

Though they play at a slow pace, Dayton is just 138th in KenPom's adjusted defense metric. They're in the bottom half of the conference in scoring defense, with much of that production coming from the perimeter. Among 15 A10 teams, the Flyers have permitted the second-most points per 40 minutes, third-highest usage rate, and highest field goal percentage (44%) to opposing guards.

Russell filleted the only team letting up more points to guards (Loyola Chicago) for 25 points when they faced off a few weeks back -- a benchmark he's hit twice this conference season. With more playing time on tap for tonight's road rivalry game, I'm all over this alt. line and will even consider his 20+ points prop at +540 odds.

St. John's at UConn

St. John's +3.5 (-112)

USC-Purdue and VCU-Dayton are intriguing in their own right, but Friday's headline matchup has to be St. John's vs. UConn. It's the slate's lone top 25 game -- one which will pit the Big East's top team (St. John's, 11-1) against its fourth-place squad (UConn, 8-3).

Though the Huskies are at home and getting back star freshman Liam McNeeley, I can't help but like the Red Storm to keep this one within a bucket tonight.

St. John's enters Friday with a 20-3 overall record, including 4-1 in true road games. All three of their losses have come within three points, and they're riding a nine-game winning streak into tonight's showdown.

The Red Storm have a truly elite defense, ranking fourth nationally in KenPom's adjusted defense while permitting by far the fewest points per game (61.8) in Big East play.

Now, UConn counters that with a top-10 adjusted offense and the conference's highest scoring average (80). But St. John's has more than held their own against top offenses thus far. They're 2-1 against top-25 KenPom offenses, whereas UConn is just 5-3 against top-50 defenses.

The Huskies haven't exactly played their best ball of late, either. Though they're fresh off a road win over Marquette, UConn is just 4-3 across their last seven games. That stretch includes a home loss to Creighton and a home OT win against Butler, so I'm not particularly scared off by the Red Storm having to play at Gampel.

KenPom and Bart Torvik both have UConn favored by less than a single point here, and numberFire's projections give St. John's north of 57% likelihood to cover +3.5. At -112 odds (52.8% implied probability), that's enough for me to take the road 'dogs to cover in a game I could plausibly see them winning outright.

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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.