3 Best College Basketball Bets and Player Props for Tuesday 2/18/25

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

Oklahoma at Florida

Florida -13.5 (-120)

Florida hosts Oklahoma tonight in their first game since climbing to No. 2 in the AP Poll. I'm expecting an elongated stay near the top given Florida's light upcoming schedule, beginning with tonight's date with the Sooners. Having lost four straight games -- three of which came by at least 15 points -- Oklahoma will face an uphill battle covering on the road.

As such, this is the right spot to consider Florida -13.5 at -120 odds.

The Gators only have three losses all season, and they quietly lead the SEC in average point differential (+10). In fact, based purely on differential, Florida -- not Auburn -- has the highest expected winning percentage in league play.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, sports the SEC's third-worst point differential (-5.9) and has struggled to remain remotely competitive away from home in league play. They've lost 5 of 6 conference road games by an average of 15.7 points per game. Three of those five losses came by 24 points or more.

On the other hand, Florida has largely rolled at home this season. They're 5-1 in SEC home games with all five wins coming by double-digits. Four came by 20 or more.

Simply put, Florida and Oklahoma don't belong in the same discussion relative to their SEC status, and considering how well Florida's played at home -- and how poorly OU's performed on the road -- I'm more than comfortable playing them at -13.5.

KenPom, Bart Torvik, and Haslameterics all project Florida to win by 15 or more, so I'd be willing to dive into the alternate markets here, too.

Florida -20.5 is available at +200 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook at the time of publication.

Illinois at Wisconsin

John Tonje (WIS) to Score 20+ Points (-112)

Illinois vs. Wisconsin has the highest over/under (161.5) among Tuesday's Power Conference games, making it a natural venue to target some player props. Considering how well Wisconsin guard John Tonje has played of late, we can consider backing him to score at least 20 points at -112 odds.

Tonje is averaging 19.2 points per game on the season, and he's cracked the 20-point threshold in 6 of 14 Big Ten games. But if we exclude the three games he failed to exceed 25 minutes, the grad senior's clipped 20 in 55% of conference games -- slightly above the 52.8% implied probability we get from these -112 odds.

He's really been on a tear of late. All six of those 20-point outings have come in his last seven games, during which he's put up 24.3 points per game.

That sets him up well against an Illini side that's in the bottom half of the conference in scoring defense. They're top 25 nationally in KenPom's adjusted tempo, too -- and that's typically meant good things for Tonje. He's seen a jump in points, usage, and field goal attempts against top-50 tempo teams relative to the rest of Wisconsin's schedule.

In a pace-up spot and coming off a scoring-hot stretch, look for John Tonje to continue his strong play and score at least 20 points yet again tonight.

Minnesota at UCLA

Under 131.5 (-115)

Minnesota continues their west coast road trip tonight after handling USC 69-66 on Saturday. The Gophers used a 40-point second half to come back and down USC, but it's hard to shake the 29 points they posted in the first period. UCLA is leaps and bounds ahead of their cross-town rivals on the defensive side of the floor, so I'd expect to see a Minnesota offense more closely resembling that first-half output.

Now, the Gophers' defense isn't great, but UCLA's offense won't blow you away. With both sides sitting outside the top 300 nationally in KenPom's adjusted tempo and neither offense offering much excitement, I'm interested in the under here -- even if it's an already-low 131.5 points.

Minnesota and UCLA have played at the two slowest average paces in the Big Ten, so it's no wonder their games have averaged the fewest and fourth-fewest total points in the conference. They're both bottom five in league scoring while UCLA is second in scoring defense.

Beyond conference play, Gophers and Bruins games against teams outside the top 100 in adjusted tempo have averaged 133.3 and 134.9 total points. In four games against teams outside the top 200 in adjusted tempo, Minnesota's games notched 105, 142, 105, and 108 points. UCLA's three games with that criterion totaled 111, 135, and 154 points.

UCLA's defense (15th nationally) shouldn't have much of an issue with Minnesota's offense (102nd). The have Bruins let up just 62.8 points per game to Power Conference opponents ranked outside the top 50 in adjusted offense. The Gophers, on the other hand, are only averaging 64.5 points against top 25 defenses.

Minnesota's defense is likely the biggest barrier to this under, but it's not like UCLA's lit up the scoreboard with regularity. Even if we remove their games against top 50 defenses, the Bruins are still only putting up 73.6 points per game against Power Conference foes.

Given how slow both sides play and how dominate UCLA's defense has played, backing the under is my preferred way to approach this late tip. That's a sentiment shared by projections from KenPom, Torvik, and Haslam -- all of whom have this game totaling fewer than 130 points.

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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.