College Basketball Best Bets for Wednesday

This article is part of our College Basketball Picks series.

The Battle 4 Atlantis tips off on Wednesday, in addition to the NIT Season Tip-Off, and I’m here to preview part of the action. Here are my best bets for the day.

Michigan vs. Memphis

From Nassau, Bahamas. These two teams enter Tuesday evenly matched when it comes to overall efficiency, but a closer look reveals one team has an area of major concern.

Michigan has had one of the most dynamic offensive attacks thus far this season, ranking 14th in the nation in adjusted efficiency. However, its defense hasn’t come close to the same level of play, ranking 83rd. Not only is the defense weaker overall, but it’s severely lacking in several key areas. The Wolverines rank disturbingly low in defensive rebounding percentage, three-point field goal percentage allowed, steal percentage and block percentage. The only thing Michigan does well is guard the paint, but Memphis is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, so this singular defensive strength doesn’t mean much when playing against the Tigers.

Memphis, on the other hand, ranks high in adjusted offensive efficiency but has played better on defense. Additionally, the Tigers also rank highly in many specific categories on both ends of the court.

College Basketball Best Bet: Memphis -1

Arkansas vs. Stanford

Arkansas is coming off a tough home loss to UNC Greensboro, but don’t let this result fool you, the Razorbacks are still a great team. A deep dive into the box score from this recent loss suggests the Razorbacks simply had “one of those nights” where nothing fell through the rim. Arkansas has several players on their team that are capable of hitting long-range shots at a productive clip, but last Friday, the Razorbacks converted just 4-of-23 from behind the arc.

Stanford has struggled on defense, posting one of the worst defensive efficiency ratings in the Pac-12. Therefore, assuming the Razorbacks can live up to the ‘back of their baseball cards,’ we can reasonably expect Arkansas will shoot much better in the future.

College Basketball Best Bet: Arkansas -6.5

Florida vs. Pittsburgh

Much like other matchups on Wednesday’s slate, Florida and Pittsburgh enter Wednesday with similar overall efficiency numbers, with both playing slightly better on offense compared to defense.

The Panthers are arguably the best rebounding team in the nation up to this point, posting high rebounding percentages, critical against Florida, because the Gators are crashing the offensive glass as much as any team in the nation. Florida ranks first among all D1 teams in offensive rebounding percentage, but it’s paying for it at the other end.

College Basketball Best Bet: Pittsburgh +3.5

Wednesday College Basketball Best Bets:

Memphis -1, Arkansas -6.5, Pittsburgh +3.5

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. ESPN BET is officially live as of November 2023. Sign up with the ESPN BET promo code ROTO for $250 in bonus bets!

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