College Basketball Lines: Best Big 12 Bets for Saturday, January 20th
The Big 12 basketball schedule is in full swing with a loaded slate of games on Saturday, January 20th. As the lines come out on Friday, I will give you my best bets for the Saturday Big 12 slate.
Oklahoma Sooners at Cincinnati Bearcats
1pm Eastern Tip Off
Cincinnati -4, Total: 141.5 (Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)
What a fun first few weeks for conference play in the Big 12 as we hop back into looking for some value in these games like we did here during football season. Let’s start in Cincinnati, where the Bearcats look for their second-straight win after an overtime thriller (and cover) against TCU earlier this week. I wasn’t certain on what to expect from the Bearcats this year, but I have been impressed with how they have looked in the early goings of conference play. Day Day Thomas is coming off of his best game of the season and I only expect him to get better as the year goes along.
The Bearcats defense is rated in the Top 20 of KenPom and they have been impressive through the first few games of Big 12 play. For Oklahoma, the home/road splits are going to come into play all season. In the small sample in the early goings in Big 12 play, the Sooners are 2-0 with two in control, most of the way, wins over Iowa State and West Virginia and two road losses at TCU and Kansas, where the Sooners were clearly the worse team those nights in both match ups.
I expect the road struggles to continue for OU in this matchup and Cincinnati’s defense should be able to slow down the Sooners offense in this one.
PICK: Cincinnati -4
Iowa State Cyclones at TCU Horned Frogs
2pm Eastern Tip Off
TCU -3.5, Total: 146.5
Another really fun matchup in Fort Worth as Iowa State makes the trip south. The Cyclones have had pretty stark home/road splits through the early portions of Big 12 play. A blowout loss in Provo earlier this week against BYU and a road loss in Norman against the Sooners where OU was clearly the right side.
On the flip side, in Ames, Iowa State defeated Houston and pummeled Oklahoma State. For Iowa State, the question will always be will the Cyclones be able to generate enough offense, especially on the road. TCU is also undefeated at home in conference play and winless on the road, even though the two road losses were incredibly tight coin flips that went against the Frogs. I had some questions after TCU had issues with better non conference opponents about how they would handle Big 12 play but I don’t have those concerns anymore. TCU is a clear NCAA caliber team with a second chance with the right draw and I expect them to hold serve more times than not at home.
I do like the Horned Frogs to cover the 3.5 at home in part because of the home/road and also because this is the second leg of a brutal road trip for Iowa State.
PICK: TCU -3.5
