Free College Basketball Picks Today for Friday, December 1st, 2023

Our free College Basketball picks are out for Friday, December 1st, 2023! Make sure you check our College Basketball picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free College Basketball picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!

#6 Houston @ Xavier – 6:30pm ET

Tony Battalio

Houston is off to a fantastic start this season and they will be looking to keep the momentum rolling here on Friday night on the road against Xavier. They come into this game undefeated and ranked sixth in the country and they will be looking to further establish themselves as a national championship contender with a victory in this game on Friday night on the road in Ohio. Houston has been a fledgling national title contender over the last couple of seasons, but they have a legitimate opportunity to break out in the upper echelon, if they continue the success they are having throughout the early part of the year. Houston comes into this game with seven victories through their first seven games of the season and they will be looking for their eighth consecutive win to open up the year here on Friday night on the road against Xavier. It would be a solid momentum building win for this team if they could get the job done here in this one. 

Xavier has an opportunity to get a huge upset victory here on Friday night at home and grab a massive résumé building win in the process. They are off to an average start to the regular season and they will be looking to get the momentum rolling with a solid performance here on Friday night against the undefeated and nationally ranked Houston Cougars. They come into this game with four victories through their first seven games of the season and they will be looking for their fifth victory of the season here on Friday night against Houston. Xavier is usually a team that competes for a spot in the NCAA tournament regardless of if it’s an at-large berth or if they win their conference championship. A victory in this game could go a long way in building them a solid résumé as they get ready to head into conference play in one of the toughest conferences in the country. However, unfortunately for Xavier, I don’t see them picking up the victory in this game as I look for Houston to get the win here on Friday. 

#1 Purdue @ Northwestern – 9pm ET

Tony Battalio

Purdue is off to a fantastic start this season as they come into this game against Northwestern as the number one overall team in the country. They will be looking to maintain that ranking with a victory here on Friday night on the road as they open up their conference schedule early before heading back into non-conference play throughout the rest of December. Purdue, a legitimate shot to win the national championship last season before they were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament by a 16 seed, and they have a legitimate shot to win the national championship this season as long as they avoid that this time around. They have the best player in the country in Zach Edey, and they will be looking to flex their muscles as they look to pick up a victory over Northwestern here on Friday night and get their conference schedule off on a solid start as well. Purdue has been blowing out several opponents throughout the early part of the year and they will be looking to do the same to Northwestern here in this one.

Northwestern will be looking to pull off a huge upset as they look to add a massive momentum boosting victory, and a huge résumé building victory to their record with a quality performance here on Friday night at home against Purdue. It would be a huge way to start off their conference play with a victory over the number one team in the country as they look to get things going in the right direction throughout the early part of the year. They are off to a fantastic start to the regular season as they come into this game as winners of five out of their first six games on the year, and they will be looking for their sixth victory of the season against the number one team in the country. They have been solid on the defensive end of the court throughout the early part of the year. As they are only giving up around 63 points per game. Now they will be looking to maintain that pace against a high-flying offense like Purdue, as they look to pull off a shocking upset at home here on Friday night. Unfortunately for Northwestern, I don’t see that happening as I look for Purdue to pick up the victory and cover the spread here in this one.

#4 UConn @ #5 Kansas – 9pm ET

Tony Battalio

The Connecticut Huskies are off to a fantastic start this season as they are not experiencing any type of championship hangover after their national championship win last year. They will face their toughest test of the season so far when they hit the road to play the Kansas Jayhawks here on Friday night and they will be looking for a massive momentum boosting victory here in this one against the top five team in the country. This would be a huge résumé building block if they can get the win in this one, as they get ready to play in one of the deepest conferences in the country, and they will need every massive victory they can get along the way. as they have a huge target on their back after winning the national championship last season, and every team in the Big East, will be looking to take them down and stop them from making another run at a national championship. We need to play their best game of basketball this season if they want to take down a solid Kansas team in their building here on Friday night. 

The Kansas Jayhawks come into this game, looking for a huge victory at home against the defending national champions. A victory in this game for Kansas could reestablish them as the number one team in the country, after they came into the year ranked number one but fell back down the rankings after a rough performance against Marquette in Maui. They coming to this game ranked fifth in the country, and they will be looking to make their way back up the rankings and a victory here on Friday night at home against Connecticut would go a long way in helping them accomplish that goal. They are one of the top teams in the country this season, and they are one of the favorites to bring home the national championship as well, and they will be looking to keep the momentum rolling with a quality performance here in this one. They are a very hard team to beat at home and that is exactly why I look for the Kansas Jayhawks to bring home the victory in this game against Connecticut here on Friday night in Lawrence. 

Fresno State @ #19 BYU – 9pm ET

Tony Battalio

Fresno State comes into this game on Friday night on the road in Provo looking to set a nationally ranked and undefeated BYU team. It would be a solid résumé builder for Fresno State if they could get the job done against BYU here on Friday night on the road and it would be a huge momentum boost for the Bulldogs as well. They are off to a pretty average start of the regular season as they have split their first six games of the year and they will be looking for their fourth victory of the season here on Friday night in Provo. It would be a huge boost for Fresno State. They could get the job done here in this one, as they need something to power them through the remainder of their nonconference schedule it into Mountain West conference play. They will need to be much better on the defensive end of the court as they are giving up around 76 points per game throughout there for six games of the regular season. 

BYU is off to a fantastic start to the regular season as they come into this game undefeated and they are ranked in the top 25 of the country as well. They will be looking to grab their seventh consecutive victory to open up the year as they look to keep this undefeated start to the season going well into the final month of 2023. This program has not been this strong since Jimmer Ferdette left town, and they were a mid-major power. They will be looking to keep the momentum rolling with a quality performance here in this one on Friday night at home against an average Fresno State team, as they look for their seventh consecutive victory of the year. BYU has all the momentum coming into this game on Friday night at home and I look for them to pick up the victory against Fresno State. Not only do I look for them to pick up the victory in this game, but I look for them to cover the spread in the process as well.

If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our college basketball hub page for all your college basketball needs!

*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.