Best College Basketball Bets Today | NCAAB Picks February 14

Now that the NFL season is over, and the Super Bowl has been decided, we can turn our complete attention towards the last bit of the 2022-23 NCAA college basketball season! There are fewer than a handful of weeks left in the season before the conference tournaments, which should be electric this year! Then, we have the “Big Dance!”

Take a look below to see our in-depth analysis (and betting picks and predictions) for the Creighton Bluejays versus the Providence Friars and the Nebraska Cornhuskers versus the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Check it out and see if you want to tail!

Creighton Bluejays @ Providence Friars

When: 7:00 PM EST

Spread: Providence Friars +2.5 (-115) @ BetMGM Sportsbook

Creighton is one of the hottest teams in the nation and will look to continue its terrific play on the road against the No. 24 Providence Friars. The Bluejays have won eight-straight basketball games, including against No. 20 Connecticut, No. 24 Providence, and No. 16 Xavier behind incredible play from Ryan Kalkbrenner, Trey Alexander, Baylor Scheierman, Arthur Kaluma, and Ryan Nembhard.

In their last game against Providence, the Bluejays won a narrow, hard-fought battle by six points at home after shooting 48% from the field. Kalkbrenner, Alexander, and Scheierman combined for 60 of their 73 points, a trend that mostly highlights the Bluejays’ bench issues rather than emphasizing the talent of those three players.

How bad is Creighton’s bench? Its leading scorer off the bench averages four points per game. Only one player outside of the starting five averages over ten minutes on a nightly basis. In short, the Bluejays have one of the weakest benches among bigger programs in the nation.

Luckily, their bench depth, or lack thereof, isn’t highlighted unless they have injuries or foul trouble, which have not been issues recently.

Regardless, I love Providence in this spot to grab a win at home; it has been perfect in front of their fans this season, boasting a 13-0 record! The Friars are a top 25 team and fourth in the Big East. They can still win the regular season title, especially with a win against Creighton at home. The top of the Big East is still very much up for grabs.

The Friars have a significant advantage over Creighton on the glass, too. Providence ranks third in the nation in total rebounding rate behind Purdue and Saint Mary’s and exposed the Blue Jays on the glass in its first matchup earlier this season, outrebounding them by a margin of 44 to 29. 

Providence kept the first game against Creighton close, despite being on the road against a formidable team. The Friars getting points at home is borderline offensive, so let’s take advantage of it!

Nebraska Cornhuskers @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights

When: 8:00 PM EST

Spread: Rutgers Scarlet Knights -12.5 (-110) @ BetMGM Sportsbook

Rutgers has hit a bit of a dry spell in an otherwise outstanding season! The Scarlet Knights have dropped three of their past five games, continuing to highlight their issues away from home. Luckily, Rutgers won’t be on the road for this matchup against a struggling Nebraska squad.

The Scarlet Knights have started to garner a reputation as one of the best home teams in the nation; they have knocked off top teams over and over again, especially in the past few seasons.

How good have the Rutgers Scarlet Knights been in front of their own fans at “The RAC” (also known as Jersey Mike’s Arena)? Let’s put it this way: Rutgers has the best record (tied with Cincinnati) against the spread at home (12-3), with a minimum of at least 15 games played, in the nation. 

The Scarlet Knights have a 13-2 home record with losses to Seton Hall on December 11th, when they shot just 32.6% from the field against that stout (15th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency) Pirates’ defense, and to a sharpshooting (3rd in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency) Iowa squad. 

One thing has been made abundantly clear to me about the Scarlet Knights: if they aren’t being matched by opponents with an equal amount of intensity on defense (Seton Hall), or counteracted with elite-level offense (Iowa), then they are going to win at home.

Luckily, the Nebraska Cornhuskers have neither of those things. As a matter of fact, the Cornhuskers rank third-to-last in the Big Ten behind a struggling Ohio State team that can’t catch a break, and the horrendous Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-12 in conference play.) 

Nebraska is 179th in adjusted offensive efficiency, and I struggle to see where it will score against Rutgers. In a similar matchup (versus Rider, 144th in adjusted offensive efficiency), the Scarlet Knights won by 30 points at home. 

Rutgers has superior coaching, too; if Derrick Walker (leading scorer for the Cornhuskers) gets a clean look, expect the Scarlet Knights to foul him hard. Walker merely shoots 44% from the free throw line, so even Nebraska’s leading scorer will have to work for every point.

Further, Rutgers allows just 29% shooting from deep, while Nebraska shoots 31.7% from behind the arc. It is just incredibly difficult to see how the Cornhuskers will score points in this game. I believe Rutgers will continue to cover the spread at home at a high level here. Back the Scarlet Knights in this game!