3 Best College Basketball Bets and Player Props for Tuesday 1/28/25

The college basketball season is rolling along, giving us plentiful betting options with so many teams in action each day.

Fortunately, we have abundant tools available that can aid our chances of finding good betting value. Bart Torvik and KenPom are excellent sources that give insights into team-level efficiency, and Sports Reference provides a wide range of useful team stats, as well.

Let's check out FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds and select some of the best bets of the day by utilizing the mentioned tools.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

Today's Best College Basketball Betting Picks

North Carolina at Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh -2.5 (-110)

North Carolina has finally begun to lose the respect of the oddsmakers following a 13-8 start that's seen them cover just 7 of 21 games, and that's warranted. The Tar Heels are down to 38th on KenPom after flirting with top-10 status early in the season. That's come via a lackluster showing in the ACC, suggesting they could have their hands full with Pitt tonight.

The Panthers are 34th by KenPom's numbers, and they've looked like a tournament team for much of the season. Though they've dropped four of their last five, including two straight at home, they still have just two losses to teams outside KenPom's top 25. I don't expect them to add to that tonight; instead, this is a spot to target Pittsburgh -2.5.

Pitt's main draw here is how well their offense matches up with UNC's defense. The Panthers have been a well-oiled machine at home this season, averaging north of 80 points per game with a 56.7% effective field goal percentage (eFG%) against Power Conference opponents. They're shooting an ACC-best 66% at the rim (per Bart Torvik), presenting issues for a Tar Heels interior that's let up the conference's fifth-most points in the paint against Power Conference foes.

North Carolina's defense has been better in league play, but they're still just 48th nationally in adjusted defense. Their offense, in fact, has been the bigger issue on the road. North Carolina has averaged just 68.3 points per game in conference road games, 12th in the ACC.

Pitt's defense hasn't been especially inspiring at home, but their offense has carried the load. They've scored at least 75 points in all four conference home games -- a total UNC's yet to reach on the road in the ACC.

That's enough for me to back Pittsburgh -2.5 tonight, especially with Bart Torvik's model projecting the Panthers to win by 3.7 points.

Kentucky at Tennessee

Koby Brea 3+ Made Threes (+120)

No. 8 Tennessee has one of the top defenses in the country -- the best, based on KenPom's adjusted defense metric. That's carried over into SEC play where the Vols -- aided by the league's lowest average pace -- have permitted a conference-best 62.3 points per game.

Typically, we wouldn't want to target Tennessee for opposing player props. But for as good as their defense is, the Volunteers routinely let up a high rate of three-point attempts, so we can look to target Kentucky sharpshooter Koby Brea's made threes prop.

Brea is averaging 2.7 made threes per game on the year, though he's nailed at least three triples just seven times in 19 games. Still, he hit that mark in 18 of 33 games with the Dayton Flyers last season, so we know this is in his range of outcomes.

Now, the caveat with Tennessee surrendering a boatload of three-point attempts is that they have stifled opponents from beyond the arc. The Vols have allowed the fourth highest three-point attempt rate (45.4%) among Power Conference teams, but they've held opponents to the nation's lowest three-point field goal percentage (25.4%).

Still, when you're giving up that much volume from distance, good shooters will capitalize. In seven conference games, five different sharpshooters have made at least 3 threes against Tennessee, including Texas' Tre Johnson (38% 3P%) and both of Vandy's Tyler Nickel (39%), and Jason Edwards (39%).

Those are some of the SEC's best outside shooters, but they pale in comparison to Brea. The graduate transfer is shooting a sparkling 46.4% from beyond the arc this season -- somehow down from last year's 49.8% mark. He's attempting nearly as many threes despite a downtick in minutes from last season, so volume shouldn't be an issue versus a Tennessee defense that gives up treys at such a high rate.

Considering Brea's elite efficiency from downtown, he's in an intriguing spot to make three or more triples tonight.

VCU at Saint Louis

Saint Louis +5.5 (-120)

Two of the Atlantic 10's top teams square off at 8:00 pm EST tonight when VCU takes on Saint Louis. Though VCU is the superior team here, the Billikens have been playing well in conference, presenting value in them to cover +5.5 at home.

The Rams are up to 35th on KenPom -- easily the best ranking among A-10 teams. They have the conference's top net rating (+19.3), too, so it's not a major surprised to see them favored on the road.

But Saint Louis has gone 5-2 in conference play, and they're third in A-10 net rating (+8.5). They've been even better at home, outscoring league foes by an average of 11 points per game.

VCU has played well on the road since the conference season started, but their lone league loss came away at St. Bonaventure, and Saint Joseph's did keep the margin to single digits when they squared off. SLU has defeated both at home already, cementing themselves as one of the league's top teams after a lackluster non-conference showing.

Now, this will be the second head-to-head matchup between VCU and Saint Louis following January 14th's 78-62 Rams win. The Billikens attempted just 37 shots compared to VCU's 72, turning the ball over 19 times and letting up 22 offensive rebounds.

But VCU hasn't hit the offensive glass as hard away from home, and Saint Louis has done a better job limiting turnovers at home. Their offense still found plenty of high percentage looks the first time they faced VCU, so a closer result is on the table if they can limit the second-chance points and hold onto the ball.

In what should be a bounce back effort from the Billikens, this is a spot we can consider Saint Louis +5.5 against VCU.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.