Two Conference Battles for Bets in College Basketball

We have pushed our way through college basketball this season and are almost at the regular season finish line with most teams just having a handful of games remaining on the schedule. I had a nice couple of plays the other day and would like to continue on that path toward success here on this packed Saturday slate.

Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 2:00 Et

We have a matchup between two squads in the back half of the top-20. Iowa State comes into the contest with a 17-8 record and losers of three of their past five games. They did beat TCU in their last game, but they haven't been a great road team this season. I'd expect this to probably be a defensive battle as that is Iowa State's biggest strength. Kansas State is not performing very well right now. For whatever reason, maybe it was them overperforming to start the year or something different, they've lost four of their past five games. This is an opportunity to beat a beatable Iowa State team. They can probably even make their defense look good as the Cyclones just aren't very efficient on offense. They did have a matchup earlier this season at lost by four. That was a strange game in my opinion because it was higher scoring than I'd expect it to be. At 134.5 you don't have much room for error, but I'd look towards the under. My official play though will be Kansas State -3.5. With them at home, I think there is a better chance they can take this one down and cover this game.

Wake Forest vs. Miami, 2:00 ET

Unlike the last game I mentioned, both of these teams are on winning streaks. Wake has only won three of their past five, but their two losses in that stretch were to Duke and North Carolina State by a combined total of four points. On the other side, Miami has won their past five games and only one of those was a close contest. You need to expect that Miami's focus on defense will be guarding the 3-pt line as that seems to be what Wake wants to get, and probably part of the reason for their inconsistency. That actually plays better for Miami anyway as they allow too many paint points. I'm not sure that Wake has the defense to keep up with the Hurricanes that will utilize their guards to try and penetrate and kick for open shots or get easy layups if they can. Give me Miami -6.5 in this one.

I think the total in the DePaul and Xavier game is too high at 155, I think we can get an under in that one. I also like Utah and Arizona State to go over their total at 136.5. I think that game ends closer to 141.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024