College Basketball Betting Picks for Wednesday 1/10/24

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

Louisville at Miami

Miami -16.5 (-110)

The Miami Hurricanes (11-3, 2-1 conf) are 16.5-point favorites as they host Louisville Cardinals (5-9, 0-3 conf).

Even with the heavy spread, we can still look toward the home Hurricanes. Miami (47th on KenPom) has crushed inferior competition this season, going 7-0 with a +23.7 average margin of victory against teams outside of KenPom's top 100 teams.

On top of that, Miami is averaging 89.4 points per game at home. That could bode trouble for the Cardinals considering they've failed to even eclipse 70 points in their three true road games.

Louisville (221st on KenPom) has really fallen apart after a somewhat promising start to the year. Since battling Virginia Tech in early December, they've dropped five of six games. They played three top-100 KenPom teams over that span, losing by an average of 18.6 points.

numberFire's projection model has Miami favored by 22.5 here. That's more than enough to put me on the Hurricanes, especially given their recent play.

Indiana State at Drake

Indiana State +1.5 (-104)

Two of the Missouri Valley Conference's best teams square off when the Indiana State Sycamores (13-2, 4-0 conf) visit the Drake Bulldogs (12-3, 3-1 conf).

Indiana State (51st on KenPom) has been one of the stories of the season thus far. The Sycamores have just two losses on the year to Alabama (7th) and Michigan State (19th). They've otherwise taken care of business and already have a pair of conference roads wins over Bradley (106th) and Northern Iowa (111th).

Drake, meanwhile, enters tonight having lost two of their last three games -- the most recent of which came by 22 points to Belmont (121st). They allowed Belmont to shoot 57% overall and 55% from three in that loss and have since dropped to 115th in adjusted defensive efficiency. They're outside the top 225 in eFG%, two-point field goal percentage, and three-point field goal percentage allowed.

Consequently, Indiana State should have more than enough offense to keep this close. The Sycamores are 38th in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency. They lead the nation in effective field goal percentage (eFG%), ranking fourth in three-point field goal percentage (41%) and fifth in two-point field goal percentage (60%).

It's worth noting that Bart Torvik has Indiana State -- not Drake -- favored by 2.8 points.

If you want to stay away from the sides, numberFire's model likes Under 155.5 (-110), expecting this one to finish just south of 150. However, I'm inclined to take the points with an Indiana State team that's proven more than capable of handling other Mid-Major Conference teams.

Arkansas at Georgia

Georgia ML (-128)

The Georgia Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0 conf) are just 1.5-point home favorites against the Arkansas Razorbacks (9-5, 0-1 conf).

This line feels too low given how both sides have played to date and the fact that Georgia is at home.

The Bulldogs have rallied from a 2-3 start to win nine straight games. There are some buy games built into that winning streak, for sure, but road wins over Florida State and Missouri are nothing to scoff at.

Georgia has crushed at home, posting a 9-0 record and +10.6 average margin of victory.

Meanwhile, Arkansas will play their first true road game coming off a 32-point home beatdown from Auburn. Three of the Razorbacks' five losses came in their four neutral site games. Struggles away from home are nothing new for Eric Mussleman teams. Since he arrived at Arkansas in 2020, the Razorbacks are just 12-16 in true road games.

Because of the tight spread, I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of value and take the home Bulldogs on the moneyline at -128.

The numberFire model has Georgia by five in this one. That lines up with Bart Torvik's projections, where they're favored by 5.4. While you can get a bit more value with Georgia -1.5 (-120), I'll play it safe and just bank on the Bulldogs winning outright here.

Looking for more college basketball betting opportunities? Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook to check out all of the upcoming college basketball odds.

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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.