College Basketball Best Bets for Saturday, December 16th

We’ve finally reached out first massive Saturday slate of college basketball with the college football regular season largely in the rearview. As we parse through loads of matchups on today’s slate, we have zoned in on a pair of matchups for our best bets this weekend.

More CBB: Ranking Buy Game Upsets | Power 6 Conference Winner Picks | Mid-Major Conference Winner Picks

Let’s take a look at each of the matchups where we see value, including tip times, television coverage, betting odds, and a blurb on our best bet in the game:

• TV: CBS | Streaming: CBS Sports App
• Time: 12:30 p.m. ET  |  Location: Assembly Hall – Bloomington, IN

• Spread: Kansas -7.5 (-114) | Indiana +7.5 (-106)
• Moneyline: Kansas (-330) | Indiana (+260)
• Total: OVER 147.5 (-110) | UNDER 147.5 (-110)

This is more a fade of the Hoosiers than anything, but these two teams are in different stratospheres regarding how they play. The Jayhawks starting five far outclasses that of Indiana’s, and the coaching gap is monstrous between Bill Self and Mike Woodson. Assembly Hall’s rocking atmosphere is a slight reason to be concerned, but there is so much wrong with Indiana that home-court advantage won’t be relevant. The biggest asset for Kansas will be Indiana’s brutal three-point shooting. By shooting 27.2 percent from beyond the arc and the second-fewest threes of any team in the country, they’ll struggle to claw their way back if the Jayhawks can get out to a fast lead.

The Pick: Kansas -7.5

• TV: Big Ten Network | Streaming: FOX Sports App
• Time: 4:30 p.m. ET  |  Location: Wells Fargo Arena – Des Moines, IA

• Spread: Florida A&M +23.5 (-102) | Iowa -23.5 (-120)
• Moneyline: Florida A&M (+2400) | Iowa (-10000)
• Total: OVER 152.5 (-115) | UNDER 152.5 (-105)

The Fran McCaffery special returns to the betting card in a big way on Saturday. The Iowa head coach has a 47-17 record against the spread as a double-digit favorite during non-conference play during his entire time at the program. He is known to run up the score on lesser opponents for whatever reason, and we face a perfect spot to be backing his Hawkeyes this weekend. Florida A&M comes in with a bottom-15 offense in the country per KenPom and will mightily struggle to keep up with Iowa’s high-powered offense. Although it’s a hefty spread, don’t feel uneasy laying the points here.

The Pick: Iowa -23.5

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