Top College Basketball Best Bets for Today
It's here! It's finally here! Opening Day for college hoops has arrived and I'm honored to be the guy that gets to cover it! Monday officially kicks off "real" games after a couple weeks of high-profile exhibitions, which appears to be the new norm. Speaking of norms, NIL and the transfer portal are here to stay and continue to be major factors in the construction of teams. Early season games are incredibly hard to predict, so finding any shred of continuity is important while handicapping. For the first month or so, returning coaches and returning minutes will play a larger-than-usual part of my evaluation. With all that said, let's get into Monday's enormous and eclectic slate of games!
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Akron Zips vs James Madison Dukes 
Once again, Akron appears to be the cream of the crop in the MAC under John Groce, who has done a masterful job navigating the new world of college athletics, as has the university itself. The Zips return five key players from last year's squad while doing excellent work in the portal. JMU and coach Preston Spradlin are no strangers to success in the Sun Belt, but their work is done largely on the defensive side. The Dukes lost a lot of talent from last year's team and the Akron style will put a lot of pressure on a team that doesn't score a lot. Akron's tempo and pace should overwhelm this limited James Madison squad.
College Basketball Best Bet: Akron -7 (@ Bet365)
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Campbell Camels at Wisconsin Badgers 
Wisconsin's metamorphosis into an up-tempo, high-scoring team has been well documented, and that is not likely to change this year. The Badgers return a lot of experience from last year's team, but did lose all-everything Jon Tonje. However, the pieces are there and Greg Gard has proven he is capable of putting pieces in the right spots. The thing that drew me to the over here was Campbell's hiring of former Florida assistant John Andrzkejek. The 32-year old is widely credited as the architect of Florida's blistering offensive attack and will bring that energy and style to Campbell. However, playing that style without all the necessary pieces in place is a recipe for high-scoring blowouts against talented teams. The Badgers will likely challenge the 100-point mark in this one, putting the game on pace to go well over this total.
College Basketball Best Bet: Campbell/Wisconsin OVER 150.5 (universal)
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San Jose State Spartans at Utah Utes 
Tim Miles has done yeoman's work at San Jose, rolling out tough, competitive teams despite a severe resource shortage. Miles takes his Spartans into battle to face a Utah team that is completely starting over. Alex Jensen takes the helm and had to build a roster after inheriting just two scholarship players. The former Ute from the glory days of Rick Majerus might be the right man for the job, but Year 1 will not be pretty in the brutal Big 12. Utah might be the bigger name, but it is arguable which roster has more talent at this point in time. I like the veteran coach that is used to punching up in weight class getting all these points.
College Basketball Best Bet: San Jose State +12.5 (universal)
Monday College Basketball Best Bets:
Here's a recap of my best college basketball bets for Monday, November 3:
- Akron -7 (@ Bet365)
- Campbell/Wisconsin OVER 150.5 (universal)
- San Jose State +12.5 (universal)
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.
