The 'Classic' and 'Invitational' fun continues on Friday's college hoops slate, as the mid-season mini-tournament frenzy picks up steam.
Top College Basketball Best Bets for Today
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Northwestern 
vs. Virginia 
Currently, Virginia (#41) narrowly leads Northwestern (#45) in KenPom's overall rankings, but I trust the latter more at this stage of the season, primarily due to its significantly greater continuity from last year. Northwestern is in its 13th season under head coach Chris Collins and has recently advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in two of the last three seasons. More importantly for this year's prospects, the Wildcats rank 68th in minutes continuity from last season.
In contrast, Virginia hired Ryan Odom, from VCU, as its new head coach, and consequently, the team ranks 341st in roster continuity. The early results are fine, and KenPom suggests its new-look roster is decent, but this group is hardly battle-tested. The Cavaliers rank 359th in strength of schedule, per KenPom, the nation's seventh-easiest schedule.
Perhaps Virginia will go on to have a great season in its first year with its new head coach, but right now, I gotta go with the team that has a longer track record of success. I'm taking the Wildcats.
College Basketball Best Bet: Northwestern +4.5
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Louisville 
vs. Cincinnati 
Here we have one of the top offensive teams in the nation facing off against one of the top defensive teams. Louisville has scored at least 96 points in every game this season, while Cincinnati hasn't allowed more than 64 points in any game. Something's gotta give.
I'm tempted to take the hot offensive team with Louisville, but it's pretty hard to score 96 points in every game. If there's ever a time for them to come down to earth, even slightly, this is it.
There's a chance Louisville causes the under to bust, but I'm betting Cincinnati will do enough to compress the scoring. I'm going with the under in this one.
College Basketball Best Bet: Under 162.5
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West Virginia 
vs. Clemson 
Clemson appears to be the better team in this matchup, currently ranked much higher than West Virginia in overall efficiency, 26 to 61. Even still, I have my doubts about Clemson, simply because they haven't been tested yet.
The Tigers have played one of the easiest schedules in the country thus far, ranking 350th in difficulty, per KenPom, and they lost their only challenging game (at Georgetown, 79-74). Additionally, the Tigers endured a decent amount of turnover in the offseason, ranking 285th in minutes continuity, making it harder to trust them based on a limited sample size.
It's fair to point out that West Virginia has also played an easy schedule, 325th in difficulty. The difference, though, is that the Mountaineers actually aced their only semi-challenging test so far, a 71-49 victory against Pittsburgh. WVU fell in an early hole against the Panthers, but then went on a 32-4 run to take over the game.
Maybe I'll look back on this pick a couple of months from now and kick myself for fading Clemson, but at this juncture, I'd rather take the points with a team that has already played a good game against a fair opponent.
I'm taking the points with the Mountaineers.
College Basketball Best Bet: West Virginia +3.5
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Friday College Basketball Best Bets:
Here's a recap of my best college basketball bets for Friday:
- Northwestern +4.5
- Louisville vs. Cincinnati - Under 162.5
- West Virginia +3.5
For up-to-date information on the latest college basketball betting odds and props from multiple sources, check out the college basketball odds page on RotoWire.
