This article is part of our College Basketball Picks series.
Crossing sports for just a second, this long-suffering Washington fan is on Cloud Nine this morning! HAIL! Here's to that good mojo carrying over into today's college hoops slate as I try to get off the 1-2 train. Let's get into it!
Illinois Fighting Illini at Michigan State Spartans 
I am tossing out Illinois' home loss to USC last weekend, as the Illini were without all-world freshman Kasparas Jakucionis for that game. With "KJ" back in the lineup, Illinois went to Indiana and destroyed the Hoosiers by 25. Traveling to East Lansing will be much tougher task, but at full strength, I like the value with Illinois today. Despite starting 6-0 in Big 10 play, the Spartans have played a heavy dose of the lower-end teams in the conference, so I'm not yet sure just how good these Spartans are. We will find out today.
College Basketball Best Bet: Illinois +4 (@ BetRivers)
Rice Owls at Florida Atlantic Owls 
Warning... owl pun: WHOOOOO does this situation favor? FAU has won five straight in this series, but these teams are very different versions of their past selves. FAU is just 3-5 ATS in its last eight lined home games, while Rice has held its ground against teams outside the KenPom top-100. I don't see Rice winning this game outright, but I do believe it will make things uncomfortable for FAU throughout the game and keep it close.
College Basketball Best Bet: Rice +10.5 (@ FanDuel)
TCU Horned Frogs at Baylor Bears 
If it seems like TCU has made a regular appearance in this space over the last month or so, you are correct. TCU covered as large dogs at Arizona on 12/20 and at Houston on 1/6 and are again a double-digit dog today at Baylor with an interesting trend in its favor. The road team has won six of the last seven in this series outright, covering ALL SEVEN. In the last three game at Baylor, TCU was +12 (lost by 10), +6 (won by 1) and +4.5 (won by 3), so it should have plenty of confidence coming into this one. I don't see an outright win here, but I do think the Frogs will do enough to keep this close.
College Basketball Best Bet: TCU +13 (@ BetRivers)
Sunday College Basketball Best Bets:
Here's a recap of my best college basketball bets for Sunday, January 19:
- Illinois +4 (@ BetRivers)
- Rice +10.5 (@ FanDuel)
- TCU +13 (@ BetRivers)
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.
