The college basketball slate would be dog-sh*t Monday, and I'd have nothing to bet on if it weren't for a couple of Big XII showdowns. I mean I'm not gambling on Patriot and Missouri Valley Conference games. Fortunately, Duke's Cooper Flagg plays Monday, and the #13 Arizona Wildcats visit the Baylor Bears for a meeting between two probable tournament teams. I'm betting on the latter and another Big XII game while watching Flagg, the eventual No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, on my main-screen TV. (Heads up: I'm going against the market with both of my bets below. That said, maybe wait until closer to tip-off before betting on these games because you might get better odds). College Basketball Betting Card for Feb. 17 Kansas State (+3.5) at Utah, 9 p.m. ET This is a great spot to fade the Utes coming off their biggest win of the season after they upset No. 17 Kansas 74-67 at home Saturday. The public is overreacting to this game and more than 80% of the action is on Utah at the time of writing, per Pregame.com. As a result, the Utes have gone from a -1 home favorite on the opener up to the current number. However, Utah has 6-8 straight-up (SU) and against-the-spread (ATS) Big XII records in its first season in the conference. Also, according to Ken Pom, the Utes have a -10.9 net rating in Big XII games. They piled up a bunch of easy wins vs. the 354th-ranked non-conference schedule (out of 363 D1 programs). Furthermore, Utah usually loses the "battle for possessions" and sucks at shooting. In Big XII games, the Utes average 4.8 fewer shots per game than their opponents. They rank last in the conference for free-throw percentage and 14th out of 16 Big XII teams (I know that sounds weird) in 3-point percentage. Finally, the Wildcats have a -0.7 net rating and are 11-3 ATS in conference play. They got waxed in their first game in Utah on Saturday, losing to BYU 80-65. But, BYU is much better than Utah and that loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Kansas State, which included victories over then-No. 3 Iowa State, Kansas, and No. 13 Arizona. My buy-price is "Wildcats +1.5". _____________________________ No. 13 Arizona (+110) at Baylor, 10 p.m. ET Arizona has lost back-to-back games to Kansas State 73-70 on the road Tuesday and No. 6 Houston 62-58 at home Saturday. The Bears have alternated between winning and losing their last seven games, most recently beating West Virginia 74-71 Saturday at home. But, Baylor failed to cover vs. WVU, and in a 76-65 loss to Houston on Feb. 10. The Wildcats smacked the Bears 81-70 at home in their first meeting this season last month. Arizona out-performed Baylor in all "four factors" and had a 23-point lead at halftime before taking its foot off the gas. Bears big Norchad Omier is usually the best player on the floor. Yet, Wildcats 7-foot C Henri Veesaar out-scored (19-9) and out-rebounded Omier (7-4). Also, Arizona senior PG Caleb Love has Baylor senior PG Jeremy Roach's number from their days in the ACC. Love transferred to Arizona from North Carolina and Roach came to Baylor from Duke. Love is 6-3 vs. Roach in their careers, which includes UNC upsetting Duke in the 2022 Final Four. Roach had NBA All-Star Paolo Banchero on his team, whereas Love played with no future NBA players. Love scored a game-high 28 points vs. Duke in the 2022 Final Four and Roach had 8 points on 2-for-11 shooting. Lastly, this is a Quad 1A game and the Wildcats are 3-2 vs. Quad 1A Big XII foes while the Bears are 1-5. My buy-price is "Wildcats -125 moneyline". _____________________________ Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. I'll add bets to my college basketball 2025 betting record via X all season.