This article is part of our College Basketball Picks series.
Sunday's summary in short: USF is real, VCU started too slow and Rutgers is back to being bad. On to the FINAL Monday in February! It is hard to believe the first conference tournament starts in less than two weeks (America East on March 9th). Today's slate is very small and very tough, but I've found three plays from the Lone Star State that are worth our attention. Let's get after it!
TAMU Corpus Cristi Islanders at Houston Christian Huskies 
The Islanders have been a fairly regular selection on Mondays and for good reason. The Islanders are 17-6 ATS on the year and have showed no signs of slowing down, coming in off an impressive 14-point win at Lamar. I don't often endorse a team giving double-digits on the road, but they are beating Southland teams outside the KenPom top-300 by an average of 15.3 ppg on the year with the biggest victory coming over this Houston Christian team by 22 in January. TAMU CC is also 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road games, so while there isn't a lot of value with this number, the Islanders are worth a small play here.
College Basketball Best Bet: Texas A&M CC -12.5 (@ FanDuel)
Lamar Cardinals vs McNeese State Cowboys 
With a three-game lead in the Southland and soft schedule to finish, McNeese has very little to play for down the regular season stretch. Make no mistake, the Cowboys are a solid team, but this line strikes me as a bit too high with motivation a potential question. Lamar is 6-1 at home in Southland play and 8-2 SU/8-1 ATS in its last 10 overall at home. As outstanding as McNeese has been, the Cowboys are 8-2 SU in their last 10 on the road but over 4-6 ATS in those games. They are also 9-1 SU as favorites but only 5-5 ATS. That indicates the spreads, mainly on the road, are too high. The Cowboys will likely win this game and lock up the Southland Conference title, but Lamar will keep it close.
College Basketball Best Bet: Lamar +9.5 (universal)
TCU Horned Frogs vs Baylor Bears 
Every time I think I've seen an incredibly tough scheduling stretch in the Big 12, it seems it gets topped by the next one I look at. Baylor is on a murderous stretch right now with a trip out to Provo and a loss to BYU last Tuesday, a war at home against Houston on Saturday, and now the Bears head back out on the road in a two-day turnaround to take on a TCU team that is very tough at home. Baylor's only B12 conference road wins have come at KenPom No. 100 Oklahoma State, No. 70 UCF and No. 141 West Virginia -- the three bottom teams in the Big 12. The Bears are 0-4 in the other road games, however, and their biggest loss was by 7. I have little doubt this will be another close game, but at less than three, I have to back TCU until Baylor can prove it away from home.
College Basketball Best Bet: TCU -2 (@ PointsBet)
Monday College Basketball Best Bets:
Here's a recap of my best college basketball bets for Monday, February 26:
- Texas A&M CC -12.5 (@ FanDuel)
- Lamar +9.5 (universal)
- TCU -2 (@ PointsBet)
For up-to-date information on the latest college basketball betting odds and props from multiple sportsbooks, check out the college basketball odds page on RotoWire.
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