College Basketball Betting Picks for Saturday 2/17/24

The college basketball season always provides a flurry of twists and turns that few saw coming -- especially when March Madness comes around. This can make college basketball one of the most challenging sports to bet on.

Fortunately, we have plenty of tools available that can aid our chances of taking the most favorable college basketball bets. 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.

College Basketball Best Bets

No. 17 Creighton at Butler

Creighton -3.5 (-110)

Here is a Big East showdown on the hardwood that could turn heads. A rematch from earlier in February, the Creighton Bluejays will visit Indianapolis for a second dance with the Butler Bulldogs.

This Saturday's meeting between Creighton and Butler will tip-off early (12:30 p.m. ET). When these sides last clashed in Omaha, Butler edged out a narrow road victory. For the Bluejays, that served as just their second home loss of the campaign.

Under head coach Thad Matta, Butler is looking to improve on their active 16-9 overall record. In Big East action, the Bulldogs are even worse, showing .500 (7-7) results. For Creighton, they are in Year 14 with head coach Greg McDermott. Currently at 18-7 straight up (SU), the Bluejays have a shot to go over 20 wins for the ninth straight season.

I see Creighton earning a bit of revenge in this upcoming road test. The Bluejays are slightly better than Butler on both ends of the floor as McDermott's unit produces 81.2 PPG (a top-30 figure).

Laying three points with a hook in Indy, I like Creighton against the spread (ATS). According to numberFire, the Bluejays (13.92 nERD) are rated as the 16th-best squad in college hoops. When applying that same scale to Butler (9.94), the Bulldogs are not present until 47th. With that, I believe Creighton wins by multiple scores this Saturday.

Texas at No. 3 Houston

Under 131.5 (-110)

An all "Lone Star" affair, Big 12 hoops will be on display this Saturday when the Texas Longhorns make the short trip east to run with the Houston Cougars.

In the current campaign, head coach Kelvin Sampson's Cougars have been the stingiest team in the country. Showing the best defensive rate in Division I, Houston has surrendered just 54.7 PPG to opponents this year.

For UT, the men's basketball program has experienced a tumultuous past two seasons. Regardless, Chris Beard was fired in lieu of head coach Rodney Terry last year. Naturally, Terry is looking to establish continuity in Austin. Still, the Longhorns remain in the Big 12 for one final campaign, which is currently the best basketball grouping in the NCAA; the conference has a .668 collective winning percentage right now.

Considering UH's defensive dominance in 2024, I am on under 131.5 points (-110 odds) for this clash of 'Horns and Cougs. In the opposite department, it is not as if Houston does a ton of scoring themselves; their 73.6 PPG clip this year is 195th of 362 schools.

A final note -- the under has cashed at a 62.5% rate through 24 total games played for the Cougars.

No. 4 Marquette at No. 1 UConn

UConn -7.5 (-110)

As an afternoon delight (3 p.m. ET), head coach Dan Hurley and his Connecticut Huskies will play host to a fellow Big East powerhouse. On an eight-game winning streak in conference play, the Marquette Golden Eagles will try their hand at the nation's No. 1 team (according to the AP Top 25).

Back at numberFire, UConn is also highly respected, and their NCAAB power rankings place the Huskies (17.46 nERD) at No. 6 in the nation. Across the court, Marquette (15.59) is not too far behind, showing up at 11th overall.

Simply, this will almost certainly be college basketball's marquee clash of the weekend.

I mentioned the Eagles have won each of their past eight games, but Connecticut has done well to snap off 13 consecutive victories (not having lost since before last Christmas). Additionally, this will be the first meeting of 2024 between UConn and Marquette; the two sides will play again in Milwaukee on March 6th.

Both teams here have covered at an ATS clip just above 60% this season, but I prefer the hometown Huskies here. Playing in Hartford this year, Connecticut is a perfect 13-0 SU. In that split, the Huskies have rolled opponents at home, winning by a 25.1 PPG average margin of victory.

Through seven conference games played at XL Center in 2024, UConn's average margin of victory is still a dominant 17.3 PPG. At this moment, I see no reason to bet against the top team in men's Division I hoops; give me Huskies -7.5 (-110 odds).

For those wondering, Connecticut is currently the title favorite (+600), according to the odds to win the the 2024 NCAA Tournament at FanDuel Sportsbook.

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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.