This article is part of our College Basketball Picks series.
College football may continue to let us down with its ridiculous politics, but college hoops is here for us! I'm off to a good start in December with a 2-1 day yesterday, narrowly missing perfection. Being the Monday writer brings with it some unique challenges. The need to be caffeinated. The ability to get to my desk in a presentable fashion. And smaller college hoops slates. Today poses an extra challenge with only SIX games to choose from, but I'm up for it. In fact, I'm feeling the jolly holiday spirit......let's pick them all! I'm going to summarize my top three but will provide picks for the other three games as well. Here we go!
Iowa Hawkeyes at 
Purdue Boilermakers
I promise, this is not an overreaction to Purdue's loss at Northwestern. I'm not shocked by that at all.....road favorites in conference games often fare poorly. Iowa is hardly a favorite here and I like the value on the Hawkeyes tonight. Their two losses are against top-25 teams and by No. 8 and 12. Iowa lost by 14 at Mackey Arena last year, but won there outright in 2022 and covered as 14.5-point dogs in 2021. As I've mentioned previously, Purdue tends to be overvalued by the market, and the results show it. The Boilermakers are 9-1 in their last 10 at home, but are just 4-5 ATS. As favorites, they are 8-2 SU but only 4-4 ATS. After the loss, Purdue will be focused and will do all they can to avoid an 0-2 start in the Big 10, but the Boilermakers won't care if they win by 1 or 100. Iowa has the firepower to keep this close.
College Basketball Best Bet: Iowa +12.5 (universal)
Alabama Crimson Tide vs Arkansas State Red Wolves
I've seen this Arkansas State team play in person, and their struggles are very real. They are very scattered and like to run, a recipe to getting destroyed by good teams. Wisconsin put up 105 on them and Iowa dropped 88, a scary prospect against a Bama team that has crushed teams outside the KenPom top-100 by 32, 56 and 31. Even while facing big spreads, the Tide is 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 home games. The over is worth a look in this one as well.
College Basketball Best Bet: Alabama -24.5 (@ FanDuel)
Oregon State Beavers vs Cal Poly Mustangs
After much tinkering by head man Wayne Tinkle, it appears the Beavers have found a lineup and rotation they like. After a stressful first two home games, both OT wins, the Beavers went 0-3 in Brooklyn against three top-100 teams in Nebraska, Baylor and Pittsburgh. They came home and righted the ship with a convincing win over UC Davis and get a little break playing one of the worst teams in college hoops. Cal Poly averages a 15-point loss on the road, and Oregon State will be one of the better teams it has played.
College Basketball Best Bet: Oregon State -13.5 (@ FanDuel)
Monday College Basketball Best Bets:
Here's a recap of my best college basketball bets for Monday, December 4:
- Iowa +12.5 (universal)
- Alabama -24.5 (@ FanDuel)
- Oregon State -13.5 (@ FanDuel)
- BONUS East Carolina -15.5 (universal)
- BONUS Furman +11.5 (universal)
- BONUS San Jose State +3 (@ PointsBet)
For up-to-date information on the latest college basketball betting odds and props from multiple sportsbooks, check out the college basketball odds page on RotoWire.
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