NCAA Basketball Best Bets for November 4: Baylor & Gonzaga Close Busy Opening Day
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Willie Bee
- November 4, 2024
Top NCAAB Pick: Baylor-Gonzaga Over 156 (-110) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
College basketball’s first day of action is full of lopsided matchups, but we’re looking for value at top sportsbooks in three marquee battles on the NCAA odds card.
There isn’t going to be an easy opener in front of the home fans for a trio of ranked teams from the Lone Star State when they open their 2024-25 college hoops season on the road, two of them as small favorites and another playing the role of underdog in a top 10 clash.
Texas A&M Aggies vs. UCF Knights
Monday, November 04, 2024 – 07:00 PM ET at Addition Financial Arena
Buzz Williams and the Texas Aggies open with a true road game for the first time in nearly a quarter century when they travel to Orlando to meet the UCF Knights, and with high expectations for the season, returning to College Station with a dubya is a must.
Oddsmakers believe the Aggies will do just that. Texas A&M is laying 4½ at Heritage with 144½ for the scoreboard target.
A&M with Loads of Experience
Losing Tyrese Radford is huge, no question, but returning Wade Taylor IV and six of the other top 8 scorers is why the Aggies enter the campaign as a top 20 team with anything less than reaching the Sweet 16 considered a disappointment.
Johnny Dawkins and the Knights need to get used to facing teams the caliber of Texas A&M since they’ll be taking on the likes of Kansas, Houston, Iowa State and Baylor in the tough Big 12. The top two scorers are back for UCF, guards Darius Johnson and Jaylin Sellers, so defending the perimeter is a must against the 3-point duo.
Expect a Maroon Cover
Two things are going to happen Monday night: The Aggies will have the advantage down low, and they will fumble with a rash of turnovers during a 4-5 minute stretch. This cover may not be official until the final buzzer, but the Aggies should prevail by 5-6.
NCAAB Pick: Texas A&M -4½ (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Monday, November 04, 2024 – 10:00 PM ET at T-Mobile Arena
While Buzz Williams has a lot of familiar faces to work with in College Station, Rodney Terry is dealing with a bunch of new faces in Austin. They’ll begin working together Monday evening in Las Vegas with a matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Hall of Fame Series.
CBS Picks Buckeyes 6th in B1G
A neutral site event being televised on TBS should give this contest the feel of a Round 1 matchup for March Madness. That alone is reason enough to tune this one in, but it’s also worth watching to have a better feel for when Ohio State faces the Aggies in a little less than two weeks, not to mention Texas and Texas A&M colliding twice in January.
Jake Diebler is in his first full season running the show in Columbus and trying to work in nine new faces, including transfers Micah Parrish (San Diego St) and Ques Glover (Kansas St).
The Longhorns lost their top 4 scorers from last season, but don’t feel too sorry for them after landing Jordan Pope via transfer and freshman Tré Johnson from the recruiting trail. Pope averaged 17.6 PPG last year for Oregon State while Johnson was a top 10 recruit and expected to be a major contributor from the start.
Tré Treats in Debut
Only one previous meeting between Texas and Ohio State can be found in the history books, and it took place during the second round of 1986. The Buckeyes posted a 71-65 triumph in front of their fans inside old St. John Arena in Columbus, and went on to win their first NIT title.
Texas will cover NCAAB odds up to 8, and probably more, thanks in part to Johnson shining in his collegiate debut.
NCAAB Pick: Texas -3 (-105) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Baylor Bears vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs
Monday, November 04, 2024 – 11:30 PM ET at Spokane Arena
For yours truly, this one’s for the DVR to be watched Tuesday morning. For those who lost big on some of the day’s early mismatches, Baylor and Gonzaga offer a chance to go on and get in the habit of chasing your bets.
Inside-Outside Battles to Watch
Baylor and Gonzaga each lost key players, but as you’d expect, Scott Drew and Mark Few had no problem attracting talent to fill the holes.
There’s a great matchup in the paint between Baylor’s Norchad Omier and Gonzaga’s Graham Ike. Omier transferred from Miami after averaging 17 points and 10 boards for the Hurricane, while Ike was a 16.5/7.4 man for the Bulldogs.
Another transfer Baylor landed was Jeremy Roach from Duke, and he’ll be going against Ryan Nembhard of Gonzaga out on the perimeter.
Drew Bests Few in Last 2 Meetings
There is some recent history between Few & Drew, including the fact this is a rematch of the 2021 NCAA Championship, won by Baylor. The Bears also beat the Bulldogs about 23 months ago in a contest played in Sioux Falls. Baylor was a small underdog in both cases, and each contest stayed ‘under’ the marks.
There are only two games on Monday’s huge slate with higher totals than this game, and I still like the ‘over’ for my college basketball pick mostly because it wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see this one go overtime.
NCAAB Pick: Over 156 (-110) at Bookmaker
*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.
