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College Basketball Best Bets: Three Favorite Picks for Wednesday, January 4
Updated: | First published:
Written by Greg Waddell, Creative Strategist
Our college basketball best bets are absolutely on fire in 2023! With three straight 3-0 sweeps, let's see if we can keep it rolling on Wednesday, January 4. We're looking to give you some winning best bets using a combination of key stats and trends, as well as some artificial intelligence from our DimersBOT NCAA basketball predictions. With that said, keep reading so that we can help you narrow down what you should be taking on a solid Friday of NCAA basketball betting. If you want insight into our best bets to win the NCAA National Championship, you can check out our best CBB futures. Today we focus in on a great slate, with bets for UConn Huskies vs. Providence Friars, Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. North Carolina Tar Heels, and Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats.
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College Basketball Best Bets for Wednesday, January 4
UConn Huskies vs. Providence Friars - 8:30PM ET
UConn has proven themselves as the most complete team in the country, despite suffering their first loss of the season against Xavier last week. Even in that loss, they impressed me, responding and tying the game after being down double digits early. They have had success winning games comfortably - notching 13 wins by 10+ points already. Their closest win was an 8-point win against Villanova.
Providence at home can be a house of horrors, but this year's team just isn't as good as last year's version, despite the recent string of positive results. The Friars are just 1-2 against top 50 opponents this season, with 10+ point losses to Miami and TCU. UConn is a whole different animal, and they're too good to lose two games in a row. We like the Huskies to cover here.
BET: UConn -5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook
🏀 UConn vs. Providence Predictions
📈 Betting preview: UConn vs. Providence
Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. North Carolina Tar Heels - 9:00PM ET
North Carolina can make ugly so cute. Despite often playing some of the messiest basketball in the sport, everyone loves the Tar Heels, including Vegas. We still don't understand why - in seven games against top 70 opponents, UNC has yet to win a game by more than five points, and they lost five of those seven games outright. We wouldn't feel comfortable backing Carolina to beat any ACC team by double digits right now, let alone a team playing as good as Wake.
Wake Forest has won two straight games against top 30 opponents, beating Duke and Virginia Tech back to back at home. The Demon Deacons are 5-3 outright in games against Kenpom's top 100 teams, including a really impressive road victory against Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. We like Wake Forest to keep this one close.
BET: Wake Forest +10.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook
🏀 Wake Forest vs. North Carolina Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Wake Forest vs. North Carolina
Watch Greg's Daily Picks video for more info on his favorite college basketball best bets of the day!
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats - 9:00PM ET
This line has been moving like crazy, opening at Illinois -1 and rising all the way up to Illinois -3.5 at the time of publishing. While we wish we would have gotten a better price, we see why the money is coming in on the Illini. Brad Underwood has won eight straight games against Northwestern, and Illinois is desperate for a Big Ten win. The most comparable level of opponent to Northwestern that Illinois has played was Syracuse, and Illinois win that game by 29 points.
Northwestern built a solid resume early off of wins against non-top 100 teams like Georgetown and DePaul. But there's levels to this. The Wildcats have played two top 30 teams this season, losing both, scoring 42 points in a loss to Auburn and most recently getting blown out by Ohio State. We just don't see how Northwestern keeps this one close.
BET: Illinois -3.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook
Best College Basketball Parlay Today
There are numerous different ways you can wager on College Basketball games in 2023, such as the moneyline, spread, total, player and team props, and, of course, parlays. While we normally suggest taking our picks on their own, we also really love parlays! With that said, check out the fat payout you can get by throwing all of our best bets together tonight.
🔥 UConn -5
🔥 Wake Forest +10.5
🔥 Illinois -3.5
*All odds and lines correct at time of publishing
Greg Waddell is a self-proclaimed college basketball addict, with an affinity for parlays and fantasy football trades. He's based in Michigan, where he hasn't seen one of his professional sports teams win anything of any importance since he was in diapers.
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