Best College Basketball Picks Today: Gonzaga Can’t Afford Any More Missteps

With March approaching, the NCAA Tournament bubble has become more pronounced. 

While the Gonzaga Bulldogs aren’t on the bubble, they can’t afford many more bad losses.

Tonight, Gonzaga hosts Loyola Marymount for another WCC showdown and, simply put, the Bulldogs need to secure a win.

Additionally, No. 18 Maryland looks to grab another road win in a Big Ten battle against Ohio State.

Continue reading below for our best college basketball picks today!

Odds for today's college basketball games are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Place a $5 bet at FanDuel and Get $200 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins

Loyola Marymount @ Gonzaga Odds

• Date: Thursday, February 6

• Time: 9:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Loyola Marymount +1600 | Gonzaga -4500

• Spread: Loyola Marymount +20.5 (-110) | Gonzaga -20.5 (-110)

• Total: Over 153.5 (-110) | Under 153.5 (-110)

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

PICK: Gonzaga -20.5 (-110) at FanDuel

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Gonzaga dropped a road game to St. Mary’s in its last outing but has still played much better basketball since its inexplicable loss to Santa Clara.

The Bulldogs rank second in points per game (93.9) at home and have the 10th-highest effective field goal percentage and 17th-lowest turnover average over their past three games.

The issue for Loyola Marymount is that it simply doesn’t have the offense (214th in adjusted offensive efficiency) required to keep up with the high octane Bulldogs.

This should be a blowout that looks similar to the game these two teams played earlier in the season.

Loyola Marymount Prediction

The Lions are riding a strong five-game winning streak, but their competition in that stretch has been atrocious.

Four of their five games came against the bottom three teams in the West Coast Conference.

However, they were able to log a solid win against Santa Clara, a team that actually beat Gonzaga last month.

Unfortunately, Loyola Marymount has been an abysmal offensive team this season, ranking 214th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 257th in points per game.

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Gonzaga Prediction

Gonzaga can kiss its chances of a WCC regular season championship goodbye after logging three losses through its first ten conference games.

Now, the Bulldogs need to turn their focus towards the NCAA Tournament, which is not guaranteed if they lose many more games.

Losses to Santa Clara and Oregon State have complicated matters for Gonzaga, who is currently projected to secure a No. 9 seed for the “Big Dance.”

Still, despite not being a top 25 team in the AP Poll, this Bulldogs squad ranks fourth nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and 11th in adjusted efficiency margin.

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No. 18 Maryland @ Ohio State Odds

• Date: Thursday, February 6

• Time: 7:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Maryland +114 | Ohio State -137

• Spread: Maryland +2.5 (-114) | Ohio State -2.5 (-106)

• Total: Over 146.5 (-115) | Under 146.5 (-105)

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

PICK: Ohio State -2.5 (-106) at FanDuel

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While Ohio State has been a victim of bad luck (305th in Luck rating) and a brutal schedule (seventh-hardest strength of schedule), the Buckeyes have been playing much better basketball recently.

The Buckeyes shoot nearly 52% from the field (14th) and 39% from deep on their home floor and have held their past three opponents to roughly 26% shooting from behind the arc.

This Ohio State team is playing inspired and should handle Maryland as long as they can limit their fouling, which has been a problem at times this season.

Maryland Prediction

Maryland has had quite the bounce back in 2024-25 after finishing below .500 last season. 

The Terrapins signed 5-star center Derik Queen and brought in Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, and Seton Miguel to join Julian Reese.

The result thus far has been Maryland boasting a 7-4 record in conference play through its first 11 games.

Maryland has one of the best frontcourts in the conference and has also drastically improved its 3-point shooting and guard play, making it a true Big Ten contender.

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Ohio State Prediction

Since their three-game slide, which included losses to Oregon, Wisconsin, and Indiana by a combined five points, the Buckeyes have secured wins against Purdue, Iowa, and Penn State.

While Ohio State lost its most recent road game to Illinois, its overall play has drastically improved.

Defensively, the Buckeyes recently held an Iowa team that ranks fourth in effective field goal percentage to just 39% shooting from the field and 28% shooting from deep.

On the other end, Ohio State has shot 40% from behind the arc and 80% from the free throw line over its past four games.

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