College Basketball Best Bets: Three Favorite Picks for Monday, November 7

College basketball is back! It's the first day of the season, and our CBB expert has three Best Bets for the day. It's a loaded slate, with games starting in the afternoon and continuing all the way into the night. Tons of great teams are in action, and there's already tons of ways to find value. We have identified our three favorite plays for the day, and you can tail along by reading our analysis below.

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College Basketball Best Bets for Monday, November 7

Michigan Wolverines vs. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons - 6:30PM ET

Michigan isn't a trendy pick to win it all this year, but don't sleep on the Wolverines. After losing Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate to the NBA from a team that underachieved during the regular season last year, the Wolverines haven't had the same buzz during the offseason - but they may have a better team.

Led by All-American center Hunter Dickinson, Michigan's emerging talent got off to a hot start in their exhibition game. Freshman wing Jett Howard scored 30 points in his debut, and sophomore shooting guard Kobe Bufkin set a career high with 21 points. Michigan led by 19 at halftime of that game, and led by 30 with 12 minutes to play when they benched all their starters.

Purdue Fort Wayne is ranked 237th on Kenpom's preseaon rankings, and while the Mastodons were the Horizon league regular season champs last year, there's nothing that jumps out about this team as spectacular. Their center is just 6'9", 220 lbs, and we expect Dickinson to have a field day.

BET: Michigan -14.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Bethune Cookman Wildcats - 7:00PM ET

Iowa loves to beat up on cupcake teams in the non-conference, and Bethune Cookman certainly qualifies here. The Wildcats are the 306th ranked team on Kenpom's preseason ranks, and were were just 9-21 last year on the season.

Iowa's National Player of the Year candidate last season Keegan Murray is gone - but his twin brother Kris is more than capable of filling his shoes. His sophomore year averages of 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds look awfully similar to Keegan's numbers the year before he became a consensus All-American.  The entire offense will be designed around Kris, and will put both him and the team in position to succeed, with some loud numbers along the way.

Last year, Iowa won by 26 or more points in six of their eight non-conference games against teams from small conferences. The Hawkeyes play a fast, aggressive, offensive-only brand of basketball and when they matchup with teams that aren't close in talent, the result is most often a massive blowout.

BET: Iowa -26.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. UNC Wilmington Seahawks - 7:00PM ET

The preseason #1 ranked team in the country is the North Carolina Tar Heels, who made a magical run to the Final Four last season amidst an underwhelming year. The Heels return nearly everyone from that group, and replace their only major loss in Brady Manek with a more talented veteran in former Northwestern forward Pete Nance.

UNCW was 27-9 last year, but this is a new team. The Seahawks lose four of their top five scorers from last year's squad, and North Carolina isn't the type of team you want to break in new faces against.

With so many stars back that got a taste of success at the end of last season, we expect UNC to come out and make a statement in Game 1, leading to a blowout victory.

BET: North Carolina -22.5 (-115) at DraftKings Sportsbook