NCAA Basketball Best Bets for November 8: Kansas & UNC Headline Friday Card
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Willie Bee
- November 8, 2024
Top NCAAB Pick: Tar Heels/Jayhawks Under 158 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
One of the best things about the early part of any college basketball season is having solid action to wager on Fridays at the top-rated sportsbooks. That will eventually wane, but the first Friday of the 2024-25 campaign has 10 ranked schools taking the floor, so let’s enjoy it while we can.
And if you’re looking for more value picks, make sure to take a look at our YouTube channel for daily betting advice. Today, our expert brings you advice for the SIU Edwardsville vs. Illinois and Yale vs. UIC matchups.
Army Black Knights vs. Duke Blue Devils
Friday, November 08, 2024 – 06:00 PM ET at Cameron Indoor Stadium
Whether or not Mike Krzyzewski will be on hand for the first-ever meeting between Duke and Army without him in command of the Blue Devils remains to be seen. What we do know is oddsmakers don’t expect the Black Knights to taste victory for the first time in the rivalry.
Duke has been installed as 30.5-point chalk at BetOnline, with scoreboard bettors looking at 143 for the total.
Is Duke Peeking Ahead to Kentucky Next Week?
This is the second tune-up for Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils before they take on Kentucky next Tuesday at the Champions Classic in Atlanta.
Duke opened with a 96-62 decision over Maine at Cameron, the Bears putting up a good fight in the first half before the Blue Devils pulled away in the second to just cover a 32-point spread.
Army picked on someone closer to its own size the same day, scoring a 67-59 win over Albany to cover the 2-point line.
First Meeting in 3 Years
We’re just a few days shy of this being the 3-year anniversary since Army and Duke last met, an 82-56 Blue Devils win that pushed a 26-point total. The Black Knights covered as even larger underdogs in the two clashes prior to that.
Duke moves to 9-0 in the series, but Army gets the cover in this one.
NCAAB Pick: Army +30.5 (-110) at BetOnline
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Kansas Jayhawks
Friday, November 08, 2024 – 07:00 PM ET at Allen Fieldhouse
Let us all give thanks to the college basketball gods for giving us not only a Top 10 matchup on the first Friday night of the season, but a rematch of a recent NCAA Championship game between a pair of blue bloods like North Carolina and Kansas.
Next, let us ask those same gods for some divine intervention to help beat the NCAAB odds, which find Kansas favored by 7-7.5.
How Will UNC Defend Dickinson?
North Carolina and Kansas each opened with wins in their openers, the Tar Heels only managing to cover half the spread in their 90-76 win over Elon while the Jayhawks had just enough to cover a 28-point line in an 87-57 rout of Howard.
After being bothered by a foot injury in October, Kansas center Hunter Dickinson looked just fine in the win over Howard with 16 points in 21 minutes. He’ll have a few inches on UNC forwards Jae’Lyn Withers and Jalen Washington down in the paint.
‘Under’ Cashes 3 of Last 4 Meetings
The Tar Heels and Jayhawks have split their 12 meetings in the rivalry, with seven of those matchups taking place in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the last four were during March Madness, two of those in the Final Four.
Kansas has won the last four, the most recent being the 2022 NCAA Championship. The 72-69 final wasn’t enough to cover the 4.5-point spread, ending a string of three Jayhawk covers.
The spread seems a little large, but then, so does the total so I’ll be playing it ‘under.’
NCAAB Pick: Tar Heels/Jayhawks Under 158 (-110) at BetOnline
New Mexico Lobos vs. UCLA Bruins
Friday, November 08, 2024 – 11:00 PM ET at Lee’s Family Forum
If you happen to be out in the Sin City suburbs Friday night, you might want to catch the Hoopfest that features UCLA and New Mexico in the nightcap.
The Bruins and Lobos follow the opener between Santa Clara and Arizona State, and oddsmakers have UCLA favored by 6 against New Mexico.
Transfers Trigger Bruins’ Season Opening Dubya
New Mexico was horrible outside the arc in a 91-84 win at The Pit over Nicholls on Monday, sinking just 7-of-36 tries. However, the Lobos managed to force 17 turnovers to avoid embarrassment as 17.5-point favorites.
The Bruins started strong to just about have a 21-point spread covered at halftime in an 85-50 win against Rider. Transfers Tyler Bilodeau (18 pts) and Kobe Johnson (12) keyed the rout for Mick Cronin, now in his sixth season at Westwood.
First Meeting Since 1997
The Lobos and Bruins have met four times and split those matchups. The most recent was close to 27 years ago when then-No. 15 UCLA scored a 69-58 win and cover over a New Mexico team that was ranked No. 8 at the time.
While not quite as good as that New Mexico team with future NBA 1st-rounder Kenny Thomas, this is a good Lobos bunch expected to contend for the Mountain West title, so give me the points for my college basketball pick.
NBA Pick: New Mexico +6 (-110) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
