Tuesday College Basketball: 3 Best Bets for March 4

Two horrendous ACC teams make our Tuesday night betting list. First, Syracuse travels to Dallas where they will take on an SMU team that plays well at home and has blown three opponents out over their last eight outings.

With Coach Autry on the hot seat, take the Orange to crumble. Elsewhere, Georgia Tech should handle a Miami team that hasn’t won away from home all season. Finally, BYU is a sneaky Final Four contender that should hang tight with Iowa State tonight. 

SMU -12.5 over Syracuse

A late-season conference battle between Syracuse and SMU isn’t exactly what we had on our bingo card just a few years ago. Nevertheless, the Orange will travel to Dallas to take on the Mustangs in a matchup that might dictate if they even make the ACC Tournament or are outcasts in this first season of expansion.

The Orange have won two away games this season (Cal and Boston College). SMU on the other hand has only lost to Mississippi State, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest, and Clemson at home. In short, they haven’t lost a game to a team worse than Syracuse and with ACC and March Madness seeding on the line, I expect the sharp shooting Mustangs to run the Orange out of Dallas with ease.

SMU has three 20+ point victories over their L8 and they should be able to add to this list against a Syracuse team shooting just 32.9% from beyond the arc and 70.6% from the line this season.

BYU +9.5 over Iowa State

The Cougars are my sleeper team not only for March, but for the foreseeable future. Kevin Young is the most underrated coach in the nation. People forget that he probably should have taken over the Phoenix Suns post Monty Williams’ departure. That never happened, Young landed in Utah, and the future of BYU basketball looks extremely bright.

They are shooting it 37.8% (32nd in NCAA) from behind the arc this season on 17.3 APG (12th in NCAA). BYU has NBA talent across the floor, including freshman guard Egor Demin who looks to be a lottery pick this coming draft. The Cougars have won six games in a row while facing Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, and West Virginia among others during this stretch.

It will be a great offense against a great defense against Iowa Stat,e and with the current momentum BYU is currently playing with, it is hard to see this game get out of hand, especially with fouls being called early and often in Big 12 play.

Georgia Tech -9.5 over Miami

It’s no secret: Miami is really bad. Another secret: Georgia Tech is really good at home. The Yellow Jackets, led by great coach Damon Stoudamire, are 13-5 at home this season including five straight wins in Atlanta.

This team is a nightmare matchup for ACC competitors when they shoot the ball well from beyond the arc. Good thing they will face a Miami Hurricanes defense that is allowing 51% shooting from the 3-point line over their L3 and 39.9% from 3-point range during this season.

Yes, those are both last in the NCAA I might add. After defeating Syracuse at home on February 11th, the Hurricanes have lost five straight by 9,8,13,37, and 19 points. As the hope for an ACC tournament birth has died, bet on GT to get a big win at home.