Best College Basketball Bets Today: NCAAB Picks for January 7

Isn’t it beautiful? Conference season is officially in full swing!

Tuesday night’s slate gives us a number of electric top 25 matchups, including an NCAAB SEC bout between No. 1 Tennessee and No. 8 Florida, and a NCAAB Big Ten bout featuring the 24th-ranked Michigan Wolverines and the 22nd-ranked UCLA Bruins.

If you’re curious about our two best college basketball picks today for these games, keep reading below!

Odds for today's college basketball are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Place your bets at FanDuel and claim $200 in bonus bets by placing a $5 wager at the platform.

No. 1 Tennessee @ No. 8 Florida

• Date: Tuesday, January 7

• Time: 7:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Tennessee +118 | Florida -142

• Spread: Tennessee +2.5 (-110) | Florida -2.5 (-110)

• Total: Over 148.5 (-115) | Under 148.5 (-105)

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

PICK: Florida ML (-142) at FanDuel

Get $200 in Bonus Bets at FanDuel With a $5 Wager

Everyone expected the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida Gators to be good this season; however, very few thought that they would be true title-contending teams.

Tennessee lost an all-time great college basketball player in Dalton Knecht, so finding a way to put together a respectable offense, especially knowing that they had occasional droughts last year even with Knecht on the floor, was going to be a challenge.

The Gators had a surge at the end of the 2023-24 season but were still ranked just 21st in the preseason AP Poll. They jumped up to as high as sixth in the AP Poll but a narrow, six-point road loss to the high-octane Kentucky Wildcats dropped them two spots.

This game will be a clash of styles: Florida plays up-tempo basketball and crashes the offensive glass as well as any team in the nation while Tennessee loves to lean on its elite half-court defense to slow games down.

Which style will prevail?

This is a prime spot to back the Gators on their home floor; they are fresh off a tough road loss and will be looking to get back on track in SEC play tonight.

While Tennessee is a strong rebounding team, their efficiency on the defensive glass (70.4% DREB%) drops substantially on the road.

And that’s where the problem lies for the Vols.

Florida has been an absolute force on the boards, particularly the offensive end, ranking second nationally in offensive rebounding percentage.

In fact, the Gators have pulled down nearly 46% of their own misses over the past three games.

Further, Florida has been striping it from deep recently, hitting close to 39% of its 3s in that same stretch.

Between the Gators’ recent 3-point shooting, dominance on the offensive glass, and elite defense (seventh-lowest opponent effective field goal percentage at home), they should have no issue in handing the Vols their first loss of the season.

No. 24 Michigan @ No. 22 UCLA

• Date: Tuesday, January 7

• Time: 10:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Michigan +140 | UCLA -170

• Spread: Michigan +3.5 (-110) | UCLA -3.5 (-110)

• Total: Over 143.5 (-105) | Under 143.5 (-115)

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

PICK: UCLA ML (-170) at FanDuel

Wager $5 at FanDuel for $200 in Bonus Bets

The 24th-ranked Michigan Wolverines have already suffered three losses through the first week of January.

However, they have had some bad luck to kick off the season, dropping a one-point loss to No. 16 Oklahoma and a tandem of two-point losses to then-ranked Arkansas and Wake Forest, in what was essentially a road game.

Michigan ranks well in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin metric, too, clocking in at 11th thus far in the season, ahead of Kansas and UConn.

The Wolverines have given teams trouble with their two-big look of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf. 

While two-big lineups have been phased out recently by lineups that favor 3-point shooting and overall offensive spacing, Wolf and Goldin work a nice two-big pick-and-roll due to the former’s superb ball-handling and passing ability as a seven-footer.

And in their past three games, Michigan has ranked first nationally in total rebounding rate, effectively utilizing their size to dominate opponents on the glass.

Meanwhile, UCLA has put together the fourth-best defense (KenPom), leaning on its intense and pesky full-court pressure to generate the most turnovers in the country.

The Bruins get a lot of their offense from their defense, so protecting the ball and forcing them to generate offense in the half-court is the way to go. Can Michigan execute?

I’m struggling to see it.

The Wolverines have had an issue with protecting the ball this season, committing the third-most turnovers among major D-I programs nationally in their past three games.

Michigan’s frontcourt is one of the best in the Big Ten but its backcourt can be spotty at times, opening the door for UCLA to wreak havoc.

The Bruins also do a terrific job in gang rebounding, as they have two guards who combine to average 11 rebounds per game. Their attention to detail on the glass will be huge in mitigating one of Michigan’s greatest strengths.