Best College Basketball Bets Today: NCAAB Picks for November 22

If you are located on the east coast, hopefully you plan on staying up late on Friday night to catch the enthralling Top 25 matchup between the No. 12 Duke Blue Devils and No. 17 Arizona Wildats.

Additionally, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and 14th-ranked Creighton Bluejays continue their 100-year rivalry, with the former team hoping to avenge a near-30-point loss the last time these two teams met.

Below, we break down both matchups, each team’s respective starts to the 2024-25 regular season, and our best college basketball picks today!

The following odds are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change. Place your bets at FanDuel and claim $150 in bonus bets with a $5 wager.

No. 12 Duke @ No. 17 Arizona 

• Date: Friday, November 22

• Time: 10:30 pm EST

• Moneyline: Duke +104 | Arizona -125

• Spread: Duke +1.5 (-112) | Arizona -1.5 (-108)

• Total: Over 159.5 (-110) | Under 159.5 (-110)

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change.

PICK: Duke +1.5 (-112) at FanDuel

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Head coach Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils are certainly not scared of scheduling tough non-conference opponents.

Duke has already faced a tough now-ninth-ranked Kentucky team on a neutral court and will take on the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats on the road tonight.

Further, Duke plays top-ranked Kansas and fourth-ranked Auburn before ACC Conference play even starts.

The Blue Devils fell short in their first test of the season, dropping a game to Kentucky by a score of 77-72; however, they shot just 4-for-24 from behind the arc. Duke easily could have won that game with slightly better perimeter shooting alone.

Luckily, that game holds little importance in the grand scheme of things. Plus, the early returns on wunderkind freshman forward Cooper Flagg have been terrific.

Through the team’s first four games, Flagg has led the team in points (16.2 PPG), rebounds (9.5 RPG), assists (4.0 APG), steals (2.0 SPG), and blocks (1.8 BPG) per game.

Freshman guard Kon Knueppel, Sophomore guard Caleb Foster, junior guard Tyrese Proctor, and freshman center Khaman Maluach have also been fantastic, with each player averaging between (roughly) 10 and 15 points per game.

A team’s ability to have a well-distributed scoring output is almost always a recipe for success and consistency.

Meanwhile, Arizona is once again one of the fastest teams (fifth in adjusted tempo, per KenPom) in the nation. The Wildcats returned three key guards from last year’s squad, including Jaden Bradley, KJ Lewis, and Caleb Love.

Bradley and Lewis have been rock-solid but Love has struggled to find his shooting stroke thus far.

Despite not having Oumar Ballo, a double-double machine, the Wildcats have managed to continue their elite offensive rebounding prowess, ranking first nationally in OREB% through the first few games of the season.

Ultimately, I still like Duke with the points in this game.

The Blue Devils’ attention to detail on the defensive end of the floor (second in adjusted defensive efficiency) and discipline in limiting offensive rebounds and fastbreak points can help them mitigate Arizona’s impact.

Also, Duke does a phenomenal job of protecting the ball, which will be massive against an Arizona team that thrives on opponents’ mistakes.

Nebraska @ No. 14 Creighton

• Date: Friday, November 22

• Time: 5:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Nebraska +440 | Creighton -610

• Spread: Nebraska +10.5 (-110) | Creighton -10.5 (-110)

• Total: Over 150.5 (-115) | Under 150.5 (-105)

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change.

PICK: Creighton -10.5 (-110) at FanDuel

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Our second best bet comes from a rivalry game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Creighton Bluejays.

Nebraska and Creighton have had a 100-year rivalry, with the Bluejays holding a narrow 30-27 series advantage after securing wins in 11 of the past 13 matchups.

Last season, Creighton decimated Nebraska by 29 points, and this game should be a similar story.

After losing Keisei Tominaga, Rienk Mast (surgery), CJ Wilcher, Josiah Allick, and Jamarques Lawrence, the Cornhuskers’ offense (100th in adjO) was inevitably going to take a sizable hit, but they are shooting just 25.3% from behind the arc as a team.

Four of those five players shot (roughly) between 36 and 40% from 3-point land last year. Needless to say, it has been a really brutal offensive start for the Cornhuskers.

As an example of their struggles, Nebraska beat Bethune-Cookman by merely five points at home. Five. 

Creighton is a completely different beast than all of the teams that Nebraska has faced thus far, including a watered-down Saint Mary’s squad that has been uncharacteristically poor on the defensive end of the floor.

The Bluejays have held their opponents to the 11th-lowest effective field goal percentage (39.7%) so far, and while their schedule to this point has been incredibly straightforward, they shouldn’t have trouble in shutting down Nebraska’s offense.

Creighton can lean on Kalkbrenner’s size and rim protection ability to prevent the Cornhuskers from getting buckets in and around the paint. And the Bluejays won’t have to worry too much about Nebraska shooting it from 3-point land.