The professional action on the hardwood began its 2024-25 regular season a couple weeks ago, and today, the college basketball campaign gets underway!

As with any sport that has a long season like basketball, it can be tough to gauge exactly how the early going will shake out. That’s even more the case nowadays with the frequent movement via the transfer portal; a lot of these teams are playing their first real game as teammates together. Will they gel instantly, or will it take some time?

 

 

 

It typically doesn’t take too long for that question to be answered. At the same time, the earlier parts of the season are when the lines are the softest – meaning this is the time to exploit what we can when making college basketball predictions. 

So, without further ado, here are today’s expert college basketball best bets for the start of the 2024-25 season!

College Basketball Picks, Predictions & Best Bets Today, 11/4

This first week actually sees quite a few marquee matchups taking place in the CBB realm. On this Monday, November 4th, the slate is easily headlined by two games: OSU vs. Texas and Baylor vs. Gonzaga. These are all teams either currently ranked or just outside the top 25 which sets us up for a great night of festivities – and a great night of college basketball best bets. 

My Ohio State vs. Texas prediction and Baylor vs. Gonzaga prediction below are to be placed at just a half-unit, as well as the other college basketball picks I’ve laid out, until we get a better feel for how the teams will perform this season. 

 

 

 

Ohio State vs. #19 Texas Prediction: Monday, November 4th

The first big matchup of the night takes place when the Buckeyes meet on the court with the Longhorns. As we stated earlier, with how CBB is today, teams are essentially brand new each season.

That’s exactly what we have here as both OSU and UT lost 6 players this offseason, whether due to eligibility or transfer, that all played at least a small chunk of minutes per game. The difference, in my opinion, is who each team brought in to replace those guys.

Other than Bruce Thornton, there’s a question mark of who will be helping out with the scoring on the Ohio State side of things. For Texas, transfers Tramon Mark and Arthur Kaluma make an excellent backcourt-frontcourt duo, giving the Longhorns two solid options at the minimum on offense.

These teams were quite opposite of each other a season ago with OSU struggling to shoot the 3 ball and play consistent defense. UT, meanwhile, thrived on that “3 and D” style of play. They should have the size advantage in this one too, and honestly, just the better team overall. I’ll take the Longhorns to start out the very first of my college basketball best bets.

 

 

 

#8 Baylor vs. #6 Gonzaga Prediction: Monday, November 4th

I’m much less confident in this portion of college basketball best bets than the one above. The Bulldogs, on paper, have an extremely deep and complete team with a lot of their guys returning from a season ago. The Bears, on the other hand, are replacing 4 double-digit per game scorers from a year ago on a team that’s predicated on scoring the basketball.

They do return two key guys in Langston Love and Jayden Nuun and are bringing in a slew of intriguing transfers – from two players who dominated at DIII and JUCO to a couple more who played integral parts of their previous ACC teams.

I’m basing this wager off of two things, really. The first being the spread being a larger number than just a shot or two. I think this is a hard-fought battle all the way until the end, so I’d much rather take the points than lay them in this kind of matchup. 

Secondly, we all know how good of a program Gonzaga is, but they’ve also shown a tendency to get better as the season progresses and have struggled at times early on against quality competition. All in all, I’ll take the Bears in what should be a fun late-night matchup.

 

 

 

Best College Basketball Prop Bets & Other Picks Today, 11/4

 

 

 

College Basketball Odds & Betting Lines Today

I’ll leave you with the current college basketball odds regarding all of my picks and predictions for today’s games:

  • Ohio State (+106) vs. Texas (-128)
    • Spread: Ohio State +1.5 (-105) vs. Texas -1.5 (-115)
    • Total: Over 147.5 (-110) vs Under 147.5 (-110)
  • Baylor (+200) vs. Gonzaga (-245)
    • Spread: Baylor +6.5 (-110) vs. Gonzaga -5.5 (-110)
    • Total: Over 156.5 (-110) vs Under 156.5 (-110)
  • Toledo (+205) vs. Troy (-260)
    • Spread: Toledo +6.5 (-118) vs. Troy -6.5 (-104)
    • Total: Over 153.5 (-111) vs Under 153.5 (-108)
  • Northern Alabama (+185) vs. Air Force (-225)
    • Spread: North Alabama +5.5 (-110) vs. Air Force -5.5 (-110)
    • Total: Over 141.5 (-115) vs Under 141.5 (-105)
  • Cooper Flagg (Duke Blue Devils) Points
    • 15+ (-160)
    • 16+ (-120)
    • 18+ (+135)
  • Ryan Nembhard (Gonzaga Bulldogs) Points
    • 10+ (-185)
    • 11+ (-135)
    • 12+ (+105)

Good luck with those college basketball best bets and I’ll see you in the green!