The college basketball season is moving into a period where a lot of students will be dealing with final quarter or semester exams. That is December basketball in the weeks before Christmas Day. Yet, the Big Ten starts its conference season earlier than the other conferences, which allows for a lot of showcase games. There are also a few big contests involving teams in the Western United States, including the No. 1 team in the national rankings. So, let’s take a look at the top college basketball games to bet on this week.
Nebraska Cornhuskers at Minnesota Golden Gophers
Wednesday, December 5
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are the one Big Ten team which has never won an NCAA Tournament game. Coach Tim Miles is trying to build the program to the point where it can get into March Madness and win one game, so that it doesn’t ever have to answer questions about that again. The Minnesota Golden Gophers have fielded some NCAA Tournament teams under coach Richard Pitino, but they have also gone through very rough seasons. This season has started extremely well for Minnesota, which already has several wins against opponents from Power Five conferences. Now in conference play, Minnesota can continue to build on its hot start by handling Nebraska at home. It is hard to sense where these teams are in the context of Big Ten competition, so that’s why these early-December Big Ten games are such interesting challenges for bettors.
Washington Huskies at Gonzaga Bulldogs
Wednesday, December 5
The Washington Huskies were ranked No. 25 in the preseason polls. The Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated Duke and then – this past Saturday – Creighton to move to No. 1 in the new poll released after the weekend. Rui Hachimura is a devastating low-post scorer for Gonzaga. Washington plays a lot of 2-3 zone to minimize the effectiveness of players with Hachimura’s skill set, but Hachimura can also score as a face-up jump shooter at various spots on the court. It will be hard for Washington to contain him.
Maryland Terrapins at Purdue Boilermakers
Thursday, December 6
The Terrapins defeated Penn State to start their Big Ten campaign. They have been playing well, as shown by a narrow loss to Virginia, a top-five team in the nation. Purdue, on the other hand, has not been playing well. The Boilermakers have lost the high-profile games on their schedule, to Virginia Tech, Florida State, and most recently, to Michigan. Those are not bad losses, but teams need to collect wins against good opponents in order to reach March Madness. This is a game between a confident underdog on the road and a struggling favorite at home. It is an interesting choice for bettors. Purdue will be heavily devalued by bettors if it can’t take care of business here.
Iowa State Cyclones at Iowa Hawkeyes
Thursday, December 6
Iowa got crushed by Michigan State on Monday night after losing at home to Wisconsin this past Friday, so the Hawkeyes really need this game at home. Iowa State went through a transitional season in 2017-’18. Steve Prohm is trying to build the program back in the ’18-’19 season. This game arrives when both programs are in very uncertain positions.
Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Arizona State Sun Devils – in Los Angeles
Friday, December 7
The Wolf Pack are in the top six in the nation. Arizona State is ranked 20th. This game will start late on Friday night in Los Angeles, so a lot of people won’t see it, but bettors can surely assess it and try to make sense of it.
Nevada recently played another Pac-12 opponent, USC. The Wolf Pack were down one at halftime but dominated the second half. Nevada has shown it can take a punch, and that is likely an attribute which will come in handy against an Arizona State team which is trying to beat another ranked team this season, having already taken down Mississippi State last month.
