Our free College Basketball picks are out for Wednesday, January 12th, 2022! Make sure you check our expert College Basketball picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free College Basketball picks for the best games on today’s schedule!
#14 Villanova @ #17 Xavier – 6:30pm ET
This Big East clash should be the best game of the Wednesday slate. The 14th ranked Villanova Wildcats come into this game with a record 7-4 on the year. Meanwhile, Xavier comes into the game with a record of 12-2 on the season. Both teams have put together great conference records so far as well as Villanova is 4-1 on the year, while Xavier is 2-1. In their first meeting of the season, Villanova beat Xavier at home by a score of 71-58.
Denis Kirilov
Villanova will try to continue building their momentum as they have won their last 4 games in the NCAA. The Wildcats took off quite disappointingly, having a 7-4 record at some point. The team scored just 36 points against Baylor which was considered a huge downfall for them. Villanova managed to avoid making the situation even worse with a win exactly over Xavier right before Christmas. The Wildcats defeated their opponents, 71-58, as Justin Moore was the most valuable player for them on the court. Alongside him, Collin Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels, and Brandon Slater are putting up big numbers both in offense and in defense.
The Xavier Musketeers are coming into this match on a 12-2 record. They defeated Butler by 15 points snapping a potential losing streak in its tracks. The team has outplayed the likes of Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Marquette this season with a strong offense. They rely most on Nate Johnson and Colby Jones to bring home some victories, while Jack Nunge maintains one of the highest percentages from the field (54.7%) for the Musketeers. Nate Johnson has been 46.46% from the 3-point line which is an incredible achievement having in mind that he has taken 84 shots from deep range. I think that this will be a close game, but in the end, Xavier will crack under pressure and Villanova will prevail.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Villanova (-130)
Tony Battalio
The 14th ranked Villanova Wildcats come into this game with a record of 11-4 through their first 15 games on the season. To go along with their impressive overall record they also hold a record of 4-1 in Big East conference play. The Wildcats are currently on a huge surge of momentum as they have won their last four games, against multiple ranked opponents and even their opponents in this one. They will be looking to add another huge win and pick up their fifth straight victory as well in this game against the Xavier Musketeers, who they have already beaten once this season.
Wheels up to Cincy ✈️#RoadAttitude pic.twitter.com/Pwn9UMMZxT
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) January 11, 2022
The previously mentioned Xavier Musketeers are coming into this game with a record of 12-2 on the season. One of those two losses is courtesy of their opponents in this one as they fell to Villanova on the road in late December. Which means they will be looking for revenge in this one at home. Xavier comes into this one ranked 17th in the nation as well. They are currently on a one-game winning streak after beating the Butler Bulldogs in their last game. As for the result of this one, I have the Xavier Musketeers picking up the win over the Villanova Wildcats at home.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Xavier (+108)
Noah Dunlap
Despite a somewhat disappointing 11-4 record to start off the year, the Villanova Wildcats are slowly beginning to look like the team that most people expected to see from the jump. They’ve won four straight, including a double-digit victory over this same Xavier team. They now go for the season-sweep over a top-20 Musketeer team, which would certainly boost their resume for March.
Xavier enters this one at 12-2, with losses to this Villanova team, and a loss to Iowa State, which is certainly an acceptable loss as well. Despite the loss, I’m not fully sold on these Musketeers though, which is why I’m taking the Wildcats to come in and complete the season sweep here.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Villanova (-130)
#8 Duke @ Wake Forest – 7pm ET
Duke comes into this game with a record of 12-2, after being upset by Miami in their last game. Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons come into this game with a record of 13-3 on the season. Duke is 2-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Wake is 3-2. This is the first matchup of the season between the two North Carolina based schools. Wake Forest is coming into this one on a two game winning streak as well. Both of these teams could use a big win in this one.
Denis Kirilov
Duke has dropped some places in the overall rankings as they are now 8th-seeded. The Blue Devils suffered a surprising loss in their last meeting in the NCAA, getting beaten by Miami, 76-74. Paolo Banchero didn’t manage to save his team, while Trevor Keels disappointed with his less than 20% from the field. Duke’ center, Mark Williams, finished off with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks, but his monstrous performance in the paint was simply not enough. The game was decided by the turnovers that the Blue Devils have conceded. They ended the match with 17 turnovers, six of which came from Wendell Moore Jr., while the Hurricanes had lost the ball just 5 times. This loss, however, didn’t have an impact on their place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as they remain on top with a 12-2 record.
Their opponents, Wake Forest, are right behind them in the current standings. The Demon Deacons are coming into this game following a decent start of the season with 13 wins and 3 losses. They avoided an upset in their last game against Syracuse, defeating them 77-74 after overtime. The team had a tough period right after Christmas losing two straight matches to Louisville and Miami. Alondes Williams is their most valuable asset as it was exactly him who underperformed on both occasions. He averages 20.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game on a 55% shooting from the field. I think that he won’t be able to live up to the hype a lot longer as I sense that Duke will be able to beat the closest team to them in the standings.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Duke (-192)
Tony Battalio
The Duke Blue Devils are coming into this game off of an upset loss to the Miami Hurricanes in their last contest. To make matters worse it was a game in which Duke led by four with around half a minute left, which makes the loss that much more inexcusable. The loss dropped the Blue Devils record down to 12-2 overall on the season and 2-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. They are currently ranked just inside the top 10 of the country at 8th. Now they will be looking to bounce back in this one against fellow in-state school, Wake Forest, however it won’t be as easy as it seems being on the road against this scrappy Demon Deacons team.
The previously mentioned Wake Forest Demon Deacons are coming into this game with a record of 13-3 but are somehow unranked and outside of the top 25 in the country. Wake Forest is currently on a two game winning streak and come into this one with a 3-2 record in ACC play. This game will be their toughest test to date as they have a chance to upset a top 10 Duke Blue Devils team at home. However as for the result of this one, I don’t see it happening as I have the Duke Blue Devils picking up the victory in this one.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Duke (-192)
Noah Dunlap
Wake Forest comes into this as one of the bigger surprises in the country, as they sit at 13-3, and are currently on a two-game winning streak. However, they remain unranked, and that’s largely due to the fact that their schedule to this point has been pretty weak, so it’s hard to get a good feel for how good they actually are. We begin to get a clearer picture of this Demon Deacons team here, as they face their toughest test of the year, hosting the Duke Blue Devils.
Duke comes in at 12-2, and sit eighth in this week’s poll. From a talent standpoint they’re one of the best teams in the country, but with their best player, Paola Banchero, being a freshman, there is some inexperience they’re currently having to work through. As for this matchup though, I still think Duke gets a relatively easy win as they travel to Winston-Salem.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Duke -4.5 (-110)
Minnesota @ #10 Michigan State – 7pm ET
Minnesota comes into this game with a record of 10-3 through their first 13 games of the season. Meanwhile, Michigan State comes into this game with a record of 13-2 on the season. Minnesota has a record of 1-3 inside of Big Ten play, while Michigan State is sitting pretty at 4-0 thus far. In the first meeting of the season between these two the Michigan State Spartans picked up the victory over Minnesota by a score of 75-67 earlier this season.
Denis Kirilov
Minnesota and Michigan State will face each other for a second time this season on Wednesday night. The first match ended up with a victory for Michigan State, thus handing their opponents’ first loss of the season. They enjoyed a fantastic first half as their lead grew to almost 20 points in the second part of the match. In the end, the Spartans experimented a bit which reduced their advantage to just 8 points, 75-67. Minnesota has been playing well before the end of 2021 as they successfully outplayed Michigan before Christmas. The Golden Gophers, however, are still looking for their first win for 2022 after two straight losses to Illinois and Indiana.
The Michigan State Spartans are coming into this match on a 13-2 record and on an 8-game winning streak. Their most recent opponents aren’t anything special as some of the toughest challenges include Louisville, Minnesota, and Northwestern. Gabe Brown tops the scoring list for the team with 14.5 points per game. Marcus Bingham is a fantastic all-around player who averages 10.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks. Their 6’8’’ junior forward, Malik Hall, maintains a massive 62% from the field, topping it all with 55.6% from the 3-point line. In my opinion, the Sparts are slightly better than Minnesota, but it’s still not enough for me to take their spread. I will, however, choose the option for “under points” as both teams have been quite conservative from the beginning of the season.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Under 139.5 (-110)
Tony Battalio
The Minnesota Golden Gophers come into this game with a record of 10-3 on the year but are sitting outside of the top 25 unranked. They are currently on a two game losing streak after picking up conference losses to Illinois and Indiana. They will be looking to break their current skid against a team that has already beat them once earlier on in the season. The last time they played the Michigan State Spartans, was on December 8th at home and it was Michigan State that came away with the victory by a score of 75-67. Minnesota will be desperate for a win in this one as their Big 10 Conference record currently sits at 1-3 through 4 games.
Spartan fans attending tomorrow’s game, please check our vaccination policy for spectators before coming to the Breslin Center ⬇️
— Michigan State Men’s Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 11, 2022
The previously mentioned Michigan State Spartans come into this game with an overall record of 13-2, and a 4-0 record inside of Big Ten Conference play. They have yet to lose a game at home or on the road as both of their losses have come at neutral site games. They are coming into this one on an eight game winning streak as well. The Spartans are also nationally ranked inside the top 25 at number 10 in the nation as well. As for the result of this game I have them picking up their ninth straight win and sweeping the season series over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Michigan State (-950)
Noah Dunlap
Record-wise, these two teams are extremely similar. Talent-wise, I think it’s a different story. Minnesota comes in at 10-3, but all three losses have come in conference play, which seems to imply that they beat up on a weak non-conference, before reaching the tougher Big Ten slate, where they’ve since struggled.
Michigan State comes in at 13-2, with both losses coming in neutral site games, one to Baylor and one to Kansas. Both of those are quality losses, as those are two of the best teams in the country, which doesn’t cause me to change my opinion of this Spartan team at all. While I don’t think they’re an elite team, I do think they fall into a second tier of teams that are good, probably good enough to make a run to the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight, before eventually falling to a Gonzaga or Purdue type squad. While they may not be good enough to win a title, I think they’re plenty good enough to knock off Minnesota for the second time this season, so give me Sparty and the points in this one.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Michigan State -12.5 (-110)
#12 LSU @ Florida – 7pm ET
LSU comes into this one with a record of 14-1 on the season, as their lone loss came to the Auburn Tigers in December. Meanwhile, the Florida Gators, come into this game with a record of 9-5 on the year. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season as they will look for the upper hand in this one. LSU is currently 2-1 in SEC play, while Florida has yet to record a victory inside of the conference.
Denis Kirilov
LSU are enjoying a fantastic first half of the season. They took off with 12 straight wins before getting beaten by Auburn on one of the last days for 2021. Then, the Tigers made up for that loss with two victories over tough opponents in the likes of Kentucky and Tennessee. They have also managed to defeat Wake Forest earlier this campaign. Tari Eason and Darius Days lead the way for LSU as they are getting close to averaging a double-double. However, this is unlikely to happen as Eason has 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while Days sits at 14.3 points and 7.9 rebounds. I think that their performance will take a hit anytime soon, so we must be careful with the Tigers for now.
Florida have started off the 2021/22 NCAA season with a 6-0 run. They outplayed teams like Florida State and Ohio State, but a loss to Oklahoma in December set a start to a really bad run for the Gators. They went on to lose four more games to some of their direct rivals including Alabama and Auburn. They have also suffered a huge upset to Texas Southern, losing the match by 15 points, 69-54. Colin Castleton has been doing miracles for the Gators on both ends, averaging 15.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks. I think that it’s high-time Florida got back to winning as they will be more than motivated to stop the march of LSU in the Southeastern Conference. My preference goes in favor of the Gators.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Florida (-104)
Tony Battalio
The LSU Tigers are coming into this one as one of the top teams in college basketball this season. They are currently ranked 12th in the nation, and possess a record of 14-1. Their lone loss of the year was a loss to the Auburn Tigers back at the end of December. Since that loss they have gone on to win their last two games, both over ranked conference opponents. As they beat the Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats. Now they will be looking to add a third straight win over the Florida Gators on the road in this one.
The previously mentioned Florida Gators come into this game with a record of 9-5 through their first 14 games on the season. They are currently on a two game losing streak after back to back conference losses against the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide. They will look to bounce back on this one against a third straight ranked opponent but it will certainly not be easy. As for the result of this game I have LSU winning by at least double digits and covering the point spread easily on the road over Florida.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: LSU -1 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
After a great start to the year, the Florida Gators seem to have forgotten how to play basketball. After a 6-0 start, with a few quality wins, they’re since 3-5, including an atrocious loss to Texas Southern. If this game were played a month ago, I would probably lean Florida, but with how they’ve played lately, I don’t know how you could take Florida to hardly beat anyone.
As for LSU, they’ve been nearly perfect on the year, with a single slip up, a reasonably tight loss to the top-5 Auburn Tigers. That’s what would easily be considered a quality loss that doesn’t affect anything, seeing as they’ve followed up the loss with wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, both ranked teams. Look for that streak to continue in this one, as I think the Tigers simply come out and overpower a Gators that has appeared lost for the past month or so.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: LSU -1 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
