One of these games is the most popular college basketball game on the Friday night slate, in terms of betting volume.
The other, well, is about as random of a contest as you can possibly gin up.
And yet, sharp and big moneyed bettors are aligned in their opinions for each of these contests.
Creighton vs. Marquette tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, mighty Bethune-Cookman takes on Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. ET.
And don’t worry, you can stream that on ESPN+ in, like, 480p.
I don’t want to understate just how random that latter game is.
But those types of college basketball markets — not popular at all, demographic-dependent — tend to be more inefficient on average. Consequently, there are more instances where the market isn’t set at its equilibrium price.
And when there are expert bettors piling heavy dollars on one side in inefficient markets, that’s something to take note of. The Action Network’s proprietary data gleans as much.
2 Friday College Basketball Sharp Picks: Creighton vs. Marquette, Bethune Cookman vs. Incarnate Word
Odds and betting data updated as of 3 p.m. ET.
Creighton vs. Marquette
Let’s start with the more notable Big East matchup first. Then we’ll get to good ol’ Bethune Cookman.
For this 8:30 p.m. ET contest, Creighton’s spread is the move, according to the wise guys.
It’s one of those rare scenarios where the public is in line with the sharps.
While about 64% of retail bettors are on Creighton at a market-best price of +3.5 (-110), roughly 91% of the smart money is, too.
That 27% discrepancy indicates far more big moneyed bettors are putting a lot of dollars on Creighton — rather than Marquette — to cover tonight.
Pick: Creighton +3.5 |
Bethune Cookman vs. Incarnate Word
For this one, the public and sharps are aligned, too. This one’s on the under.
The best price on the market is with BetMGM at under 134.5 (-110).
