The Best College Basketball Bets For Tuesday, March 29

Texas A&M is putting its money where its mouth is. Aggies coach Buzz Williams was more than outspoken in voicing his disgust over his team not making the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies’ consolation prize was a No. 1 seed in the NIT, and they have proved that they should still be playing basketball, reaching the final four of the NIT this week at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They are joined by Washington State, Xavier, and St. Bonaventure, who upset both Oklahoma and Virginia to reach this point.

Let’s check out the NIT semifinal action in our NCAAB best bets today for men’s college basketball.

St. Bonaventure Bonnies vs. Xavier Musketeers – NIT Semifinal

The Bet: Xavier +2

Call the Bonnies the St. Peter’s of the NIT. After the Peacocks became the first 15-seed to reach the Elite Eight before falling to North Carolina, St. Bonaventure is the lone mid-major in the NIT’s final four. The Bonnies (23-9) won three road games to get here, beating Colorado by eight and then edging Oklahoma by two and Virginia by a point. 

Xavier (21-13) was ranked in the top 25 for much of the season, but a late slump–which included a loss to Butler in the first round of the Big East tournament–cost the Musketeers a shot at the NCAA tournament. They responded well in this tournament, however, beating Cleveland State and Florida before getting by Vanderbilt by two points last week to reach the semifinals.

St. Bonaventure owns non-conference wins over Clemson and Marquette from the early part of the season. Xavier split two games with Marquette this year, so they do have a common opponent. The Bonnies are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games, whereas Xavier covered in two of their last five contests, but St. Bonaventure has a two- and one-point win in their last two games, and they are actually favored here for the first time all tournament.

Given the close nature of the games and that Xavier faced the more difficult schedule, we favor the Musketeers in a close contest. 

Washington State Cougars vs. Texas A&M Aggies – NIT Semifinal

The Bet: Texas A&M -1.5

We talked about Texas A&M’s solid run through this tournament, beating Oregon from the Pac-12 by 15 and then Wake Forest by 13 in the quarterfinals, covering in both contests after failing to cover an 18.5-point spread in a 12-point win over Alcorn State in the first round. Prior to that, the Aggies beat Arkansas and then Elite Eight participant Arkansas in the SEC tournament semifinals before losing to Tennessee in the final. In all, the Aggies (26-12) have won 10 of their last 11 and covered in nine of those 11 games.

Washington State (22-14) had a decent Pac-12 season but could not beat elites Arizona, UCLA, or even USC in a combined five tries. This is also their first game all season against a major-conference opponent outside the Pac-12, as they beat Santa Clara, SMU, and BYU so far in this tournament. The 75-63 win over SMU was impressive, as the Mustangs were one of the first teams left out of the NCAA Tournament.

Both teams are fairly even in their offensive and defensive scoring averages. The Cougars have won seven of their last eight games and covered in four of six, but we are concerned with their play against quality teams this year. In addition, the Aggies are 21-15-1 ATS this year along with a 6-4 ATS mark in neutral-site games, while Wazzou is 16-20 ATS overall and 0-3 ATS at neutral sites. 

These stats combined with the fact that the Aggies seem to be on a mission after missing out on the NCAAs lead us to favor Texas A&M to win and cover in the late game on Tuesday night.