Free College Basketball Picks Today for Thursday, November 9th, 2023

Our free College Basketball picks are out for Thursday, November 9th, 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!

John Brown @ #20 Baylor – 12pm ET

Tony Battalio

John Brown comes into this game looking to pull off a massive upset over the top 25 ranked Baylor Bears in this game on Thursday afternoon. They seem to be off to a pretty solid start this season as they have picked up a pair of victories in their first two games of the year, but this will be their toughest test of the season by far. It will take a perfect game of basketball if they want to get an upset over the Baylor Bears here on Thursday afternoon, and they will likely have to find a way to out physical Baylor, which is something that is very hard to do. They are coming off of a seven point victory in their previous game and they will be looking to keep this one close and keep the hope for an upset victory alive throughout the early stages of the game. If they do not control the pace of this game and make their shots, this one is going to get ugly rather quickly and they could be in for a very long night.

Baylor comes into this game after picking up a solid opening season victory over Auburn in their previous contest. Now they will be looking to grab a second consecutive victory to open up the season, and what should be a much less competitive and much easier game for the Baylor Bears here on Thursday afternoon at home. They had several players go crazy and that opening victory overall and all of them will be looking to replicate those performances in this one and they will be looking to get some of their bench players plenty of minutes in this game as well. I don’t see this game being very close and I look for it to get pretty ugly throughout the early stages of the contest and likely be over by halftime. As I expect the Baylor Bears do not pick up the victory in this game, but cover the spread as well.

Southern Indiana @ #4 Michigan State – 7pm ET

Tony Battalio

Southern Indiana comes into this game after losing their opening game of the season, and they will be looking to further add to the misery of the Michigan State Spartans by giving them their second upset loss of the year already. They will have to play a near perfect game of basketball if they want to get the job done in this one against a top five ranked Spartans team, especially a motivated Michigan State team that comes into this game after being upset by James Madison in their season opener. They suffered an eight point loss to St. Louis in their opening game of the season and they will be looking to bounce back and be more competitive in this game on Thursday night against Michigan State in East Lansing.

Michigan State comes into this game highly motivated after losing to James Madison in their season opener. They will be looking to prove that they are still very deserving of their top five ranking to open up the season as they looked to bounce back with a comfortable victory over Southern Indiana here on Thursday night at home. They will have to clean up their play on the defensive end of the court after giving up 79 points to James Madison in the season opening game and they will have to be much more efficient on the offensive end of the court after only scoring 76 points against a team they should’ve blown out. It was their second consecutive overtime loss dating back to their NCAA tournament exit last season and they will be hoping to get the job done in regulation in this one. That is exactly what I expect as I look for Michigan State to pick up the victory and cover the spread here on Thursday night at home.

Bakersfield @ #21 USC – 9pm ET

Tony Battalio

Cal State Bakersfield will be looking to pull off an upset of USC on the road here in Los Angeles on Thursday night. That would be a monumental upset for Cal State Bakersfield and it would be a massive momentum boost for the team heading into the remainder of the regular season if they could pull this off against the top 25 ranked Trojans team. They will need to play a pretty solid game of basketball here and this one on Thursday night to get the job done as they will have to minimize their mistakes, control the time of possession and make their shots every time down the court. They come into this game after picking up a one point victory in their opening game of the season against Southern Utah and they will be looking to replicate that performance here against USC on Thursday night as well. 

USC comes into this game after a solid victory to open up the year and they will be looking for a second consecutive victory here on Thursday night at home against Cal State Bakersfield. This is a USC team that has plenty of potential and plenty of NBA superstars on the roster and they will only get better once Bronny James returns to the fold. As long as this team remains healthy and consistent throughout the regular season and throughout the conference tournament, head coach Andy Enfield could lead them on a deep tournament run this year. He is arguably one of the most underrated college basketball coaches in the country and he has this team off to a solid start this season once again. I expect that solid start to continue as I look for them to pick up the victory and cover the spread here on Thursday night at home.

New Mexico @ #23 Saint Mary’s – 10pm ET

Tony Battalio

New Mexico comes into this game after picking up a victory in their season opener, and they will be looking for a second consecutive victory here on Thursday night against a top 25 ranked Saint Mary’s team. This would be a massive momentum boosting victory for them early on in the season and would give them a major boost in the polls with the first one coming out in about another week or so. They picked up a blowout victory in their opening game of the season against Texas Southern, and they will be looking to replicate those results here on Thursday night on the road in California, as Jamal Mashburn looks to grab them another victory to open up the season. He led the way for the team and they’re opening game of the season with his double digit points performance, and he will be looking to also replicate that performance here in this one.

Saint Mary’s comes into this year ranked in the top 25 and they picked up a solid victory in their opening game of the season. They will likely once again challenge Gonzaga for West Coast conference supremacy, and they will once again be in the running to make a deep tournament run this season as well. They nearly picked up a 100 point victory and they’re opening game of the season and while the win won’t come that easy here on Thursday night they will still be looking to grab their second consecutive victory to open up the year. They have been a model of consistency over the last several seasons and I don’t see why this year will be any different. I look for them to keep the momentum rolling early on in the season and pick up a victory over New Mexico here on Thursday night at home while covering the spread in the process. 

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