We’ve got a very light slate in college basketball this week with the holidays. There are games out in Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. There are very few on-campus games until we get to the weekend.
Conference play begins for a lot of leagues next week. Some have already played some conference contests, but that will make up the majority of the rest of the regular season once we get into the New Year. We’ll have fewer interesting spots, but we will have more in-conference spots that tend to be a little bit more predictable because the teams are more comparable and the situations occur year in and year out.
For now, we’ll take a deep dive into this week with some situational betting spots to consider for the week ending December 29:
Monday December 23
The Diamond Head Classic actually got underway on Sunday, but there are games on Monday and Wednesday this week. Ball State, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Houston, Portland, UTEP, and Washington all played on Sunday. They’ll play again on Monday and Wednesday, so three games in four days a long way from home for everybody except Hawaii. Remember, as mentioned last week, Boise State and Hawaii share a conference in football, but NOT in basketball, so none of these teams regularly go to the islands.
Grambling at Dayton – The Dayton Flyers have played some big, emotional games already this season. That was true of Saturday’s neutral-site tilt in Chicago, where the Flyers fell short against Colorado on a last-second three from the Buffaloes to lose by two. Now they have to shake off that game and get ready for a pretty bad Grambling team. The UD home court edge is cut significantly by the holiday break, but the Flyers will still be laying close to 30 points here. It could be tough for them to cover an enormous number given the spot.
Georgia State vs. SMU – After losing a heartbreaking double overtime game at Georgia, the Mustangs return home to face Georgia State. That Georgia game was just the third true road game of the year for the Mustangs and the first in over a month. Now they’re back in a familiar setting with one more tune-up before conference play. Georgia State is a pretty decent team, but SMU badly needs a win off of losses to Georgetown and Georgia. If the number isn’t too high, say -7 or -8, SMU looks like the play here.
Tuesday December 24
No games scheduled.
Wednesday December 25
The next round of games in the Diamond Head Classic will be played on Wednesday. We don’t know that matchups yet in the bracket-style event, but there will be two consolation games, a first-place game, and a third-place game. It is a 3-in-4, as I mentioned, so watch for teams that maybe played overtime games or something like that.
Thursday December 26
No games scheduled.
Friday December 27
There are only two games on Friday and both are in Maryland, which is rather incredible. UMass Lowell takes on Loyola (MD) and Coppin State battles Mount St. Mary’s. The only spot of note is with Coppin State. This is the seventh straight road game for the Eagles from November 26 to December 27. Furthermore, Coppin State played five road games before a home spot against Cornell on November 23.
