Art Aronson College Basketball Free Picks & Betting Advice

This is an 8* on WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State had a terrible 2018-19 season. The Cougars won only 11 games and finished second to last in the Pac 12. But we thought it was absurd they were laying such a short number against Seattle in the season opener. We made the Cougs our Game of the Month and sure enough they won 85-54. Tonight Wazzu hits the road and is an underdog to a West Coast Conference opponent. We feel they deserve to be favored over Santa Clara. This is a revenge game. Last year, the Cougars lost to the Broncos 79-71 as eight-point favorites, a game which was played in Spokane, WA (neutral site). Santa Clara couldn't miss in that game, making 58.5% of its shots including 9 of 20 three-pointers. Similarly strong shooting has the Broncos off to a 2-0 start this year with wins over UC Santa Cruz and Cal Poly. But let's see how they do in their first real test. Wazzu was a respectable 7-7 in non-conference games last year and this year's team is going to be much better. Meanwhile, Santa Clara hasn't been very good as a favorite the last couple years, going 7-11 ATS while suffering seven outright losses. Play on WASHINGTON STATE

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This is a 10* on WILLIAM & MARY

William & Mary and Wofford are each 2-0 to start the year. But we value William & Mary's start a little bit more as both of their wins came on the road. Wofford's two wins have both been at home. We'll take the points. William & Mary's season started with a 70-56 win over High Point. Wofford also has a win over High Point, theirs coming by a 28-point margin (89-61). Again though, W&M had to do it on the road. High Point is a pretty terrible team, but W&M winning as a 3.5-point dog at American University last Frday was a little more impressive. What the Tribe have done exceptionally well to this point is play defense. They've held the first two opponents to 34.9% shooting. That defense will be tested here by a Wofford team that's shooting 51.8% overall and 43.1% from three. But the Terriers are allowing the opposition to shoot well from distance as well. Erskine and High Point combined to make nearly 43% of their three-point attempts. Wofford is just 1-5 ATS its last six opportunities as a home favorite of 9.5 to 12 points. Let's see what happens when they have to face a "real" team. So far the Terriers have relied on two big second halves. Not sure that can continue. W&M's two big guys should give Wofford trouble. Play on WILLIAM & MARY

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This is an 8* play on AKRON

Akron isn't just the worst team in the country on the field, they are also the worst team in the country at the betting window. The winless Zips have matching 0-9 straight up and against the spread records. Despite this dubious distinction, we will "take the bait" on Tuesday and grab the points with the "ugly" home dog.Eastern Michigan isn't exactly a world-beater itself. The Eagles come into this game at 4-5, needing two more wins to gain bowl eligibility. While they've got to feel good about their chances of winning tonight, them laying so many points on the road is unfamiliar. Over the last 10 seasons, EMU has been a road favorite just four times, all four coming in the last three seasons. Just one of those four times were they asked to lay more than a field. It was last year's regular season finale where bowl eligibility was on the line. They won 28-20 at Kent State, but did not cover as 13-point favorites. It's not like the Eagles have played well lately. They've lost four of five. Ten days ago, they were blown out 43-14 by Buffalo and that was at home. They haven't won a game here in Akron since the 90's. Making a case for Akron is kind of tough. But this is more of a fade on Eastern Michigan anyway. None of the Eagles four wins this year have been by more than seven points. Plus weather will be a factor tonight (snow) as the kickoff time had to be moved up two hours. Play on AKRON

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This is a 10* on UTAH

For a second time this year, Utah has won three in a row. They are 7-3 overall, which has them right near the top of the Western Conference. Tonight they go for a season-best four-game win streak when they host Brooklyn. We'll be laying the points. This is the second game of a back to back for the Jazz. Last night they went to Golden State and won 122-108. Winning at Golden State doesn't mean what it used to though, so we don't expect any kind of letdown. The Jazz won by 32 the only other time they played without rest this year. Brooklyn lost by 26 in Phoenix Sunday night. That snapped a two-game win streak. But they are still only 4-5 SU and 3-6 ATS. Massive edge for Utah defensively in this one. They lead the league allowing just 98.1 points/game. They've yet to allow more than 108 points. Brooklyn is next to last in points allowed per game at 121.7. They are 3-10 ATS after allowing 130 or more points in their last game (Phoenix scored 138). The Jazz are the only team in the West that has not lost a home game. They are 5-0 in Salt Lake City, winning by an average of 11.2 points. They are simply better than Brooklyn right now. Play on UTAH

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This is a 10* on WASHINGTON

The Capitals saw their six-game win streak come to an end Monday night vs. Arizona. It was just their second loss in the last 12 games. We see them getting back in the win column tonight in Philadelphia.  Monday's loss to the Coyotes saw the game go to a shootout. Four of Washington's six losses this year have occurred after regulation time has ended. The problem against Arizona was the Capitals fell behind 3-0. That they even got the game to OT is somewhat impressive. Really there's no reason to be concerned with one loss.  Philadelphia brings its own four-game win streak into tonight, which is a season-high. But the last three wins have all come in overtime or a shootout. So it's not like the Flyers are dominating.  Having gone past regulation in five of the last six games, the Flyers tank may be running close to empty right about now. Washington has picked up a point in 12 straight games (10-0-2) and hasn't lost in regulation in a month (Oct 13). Washington won all four times they faced Philly last season. Three different times, they scored five goals. They led the league in scoring this year. Play on WASHINGTON

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This is a 10* on the UNDER

The Spurs are coming off their most embarrassing result of the season as they lost to Memphis Monday night, a game they were favored to win by double digits. Instead, they lost 113-109. Minnesota is off an upset win as they went to Detroit on Monday and beat the Pistons 120-114. It was the third time this season the Timberwolves went on the road and pulled off an outright upset. The Spurs have dropped five of seven games and are 2-8 ATS on the season. Maybe the most surprising thing about them is the poor defense we've seen of late. The last five games have seen them allow an average of 114.2 points. You just don't see that with a Greg Popovich coached team. Minnesota has pulled some upsets on the road, but they are not shooting the ball well at home (just 39.4% in four games). Our guess is that the Spurs defense is going to improve tonight and that means another bad shooting night for the T'wolves. These teams met four times last year and the Over was 4-0. But three of those four games would NOT have gone Over tonight's O/U line. Lower scoring game than expected tonight. Play UNDER San Antonio-Minnesota

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This is an 8* on GREEN BAY

Green Bay seems to be getting a lot of points for Wednesday's game against New Mexico. Though the Phoenix are 0-11 straight up as a road underdog of 12.5 or more points the last three seasons, they have covered the spread in 9 of those 11 games. Look for them to make it 10 of 12 tonight. GB has already covered once as a big road underdog this year. It was the season opener at Purdue where they lost 79-57 as 23-point dogs. That's as close as it gets if you bet the Phoenix, but it still counts as a cover! Purdue, who was ranked #23 at the time, is obviously a better team than New Mexico. The fact that the Phoenix shot just 35% against Purdue and still picked up the ATS win probably bodes well for tonight. New Mexico isn't that strong defensively. After losing to Purdue, Green Bay bounced back with a 115-64 win over Wisconsin-Stout, a D-3 school. New Mexico has also played a game against a team from a lesser division (Eastern New Mexico) and then beat CS-Fullerton by 27 on Saturday. While the favorite is off a big win, we see the underdog keeping this game closer than expected. New Mexico probably isn't as good as they've looked on offense so far. "The Pit" is a tough venue to play at, but Green Bay has shown they can hang inside the number on the road as a big dog. Play on GREEN BAY

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This is a 10* on BROWN

It's nice to see Quinnipiac has decided to join the College Basketball season! Now that they're done polling (what the school is known for!), it's time to start playing some basketball games. Up first is a date with Ivy League school Brown. Brown already has two games under its belt, so they've had a chance to work the kinks out. The Bears are 2-0 as they've been favored by similar amounts against Bryant and Canisius. Those were two and seven points wins respectively, so they're ATS record is 0-1-1. This is one where we do see Brown covering. This being their 1st game of the season, Quinnipiac is a bit of a wild card. But we know what we're getting with Brown. They've held the first two opponents to 40.0% shooting. They've won a road game. The player to watch on Brown is Brandon Anderson. He has made 35.7% of his 3-point shots so far and has 55 points in two games. He scored a career-high 32 vs. Canisius. Last season saw Brown win 20 games and a win a postseason game (CBI). Both were firsts for the program, which is on the rise. Lay the points tonight. Play on BROWN

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