3 Best College Basketball Bets and Predictions for Monday 12/2/24

College basketball is back, 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 Picks

Yale vs. Rhode Island

Over 156.5 (-105)

Monday's college basketball slate is light on high-major action, but we've still got some noteworthy matchups. The night's biggest game tips off at 7 p.m. ET, featuring the 4-4 Yale Bulldogs and 7-0 Rhode Island Rams. The home Rams are favored by 2.5, but I'm more interested in the 156.5-point over/under given how sharp both offenses have looked to open the year.

Rhode Island enters December averaging the fifth-most points (90.4) in the country. They're 69th nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency metric while sporting a top-10 mark in effective field goal percentage (59.9% eFG%).

Yale can score with the best of them, too. They're 44th in points per game (84.8) and are actually ahead of the Rams in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Bulldogs rank 41st in that metric, thanks in large part to the 18th-best clip from three (40.1%) and 16th-highest assist rate (64.7%).

Both sides are outside the top 115 in points allowed as well as KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric. Rhode Island has held opponents to the country's 10th-lowest eFG% (41.9%), but it's fair to question how sticky that is when their strength of schedule is an eyebrow-raising 349th out of 364 Division I teams. They've yet to face a top-100 offense. The best offense they've seen (UT Arlington; 135th) dropped 78 points on them.

But I still have confidence in URI's offense given how fast they play. The Rams are 34th in KenPom's adjusted tempo -- a big reason they've cleared 80 points in all seven games this season.

Yale is a tamer 208th in tempo, but they're giving up the 86th-fastest opposing average possession length. So even if they aren't speeding the game up, Yale is allowing opposing offenses to play as fast as they'd like. We've seen that translate to big point totals for the Bulldogs, too. In three games against top 100 offenses by average possession length, Yale totaled 88, 94, and 79 points.

That's right where the models have them in this game, too. Bart Torvik projects an 80-77 final score in favor of Rhode Island -- enough to back the over in a game I trust both offenses to put up points in bunches.

UMBC vs. Georgetown

Thomas Sorber (GTWN) Over 21.5 Points + Rebounds (-115)

Georgetown (6-1) hosts UMBC (5-4) to open the slate at 6:30 p.m. ET. And while I don't see much value laying 17.5 with the Hoyas, this is a spot we can look to a player prop. Given UMBC's lack of interior size, Georgetown big man Thomas Sorber has the right matchup to go over 21.5 combined points and rebounds.

The 6-foot-10, 255-pound freshman has lived up to his high school pedigree early in his collegiate career. A former top-50 prospect, Sorber is averaging 14.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game to open the year. He's shot an efficient 58% overall, including 30% from beyond the arc on 1.4 three-point attempts per game. He's also done a nice job at the charity stripe, making 71% of his free throws while attempting 4.4 per game.

Sorber has shown real upside in the scoring and rebounding departments, already posting 25-point and 13-rebound games. That puts both his points prop (12.5) and rebounds prop (8.5) in play tonight, though I prefer to cover both bases via the points-plus-rebounds route. Sorber has cleared this mark in four of seven games and could very well do so again in such a soft matchup.

UMBC has struggled to defend the interior all season, permitting the country's eighth-highest rate of close twos, according to Bart Torvik. That's not exactly a surprise considering they have only one player taller than 6-foot-7. Their lack of size has shown up on the glass, as well, as the Retrievers rank in the bottom 100 for total rebound rate and rebounds per game allowed.

But UMBC also ranks 56th in adjusted tempo, offering extra possessions -- and in turn, extra shots and rebound opportunities.

That all sets up nicely for Sorber to have a big night.

Washington State vs. Nevada

Nevada -12.5 (-105)

Washington State (6-2) and Nevada (6-1) cap Monday's action off at 10 p.m. ET, and a quick glance at the spread may raise some eyebrows. The home Wolfpack are sizable 12.5-point favorites despite Washington State getting off to a solid start to the season. While the Cougars are far from a bad team, Nevada's a clear tier above, and their rock-solid home-court advantage should be enough for them to cover the spread.

Nevada enters December at No. 36 on KenPom, with their lone loss coming on a neutral court against Vanderbilt (71st) two weeks back. But they bounced back to win two games at the Charleston Classic, taking down VCU (44th) and Oklahoma State (95th).

The Wolfpack now return to Lawlor Events Center -- where they hold 21st-best home court advantage in Division I, according to KenPom. It's a venue they've gone 4-0 at to open the year, notably defeating Washington (78th on KenPom) by 10 and Santa Clara (90th) by 26.

That's been a common result for Nevada. Five of their six wins have come by double-digits, and it's easy to see why as they're 30th in adjusted offense and 57th in adjusted defense. Though the Wolpack play at a snail's pace (340th in adjusted tempo), they're seventh in eFG% (60.2%) and 31st in eFG% allowed (44.7%). They take (and make) good shots and don't give up anything easy on the other end.

Washington State is just 111th in adjusted offense despite a top-50 eFG% (55.8%). The Cougars turn the ball over a ton (20.1%; 292nd) and don't do much to make up for those lost possessions. As such, while they are 6-2, only one of their six wins have come against top-140 KenPom teams. They've lost to both of their top-75 opponents, including by 10 to Iowa (49th) and 17 to SMU (64th).

On top of that, this will be Washington State's first true road game. Don't be surprised if this one gets out of hand, quickly. With Nevada coming off a week of rest, I like the Wolfpack to roll and cover 12.5 points against Washington State.

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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.