NCAA Basketball Best Bets for Saturday, 12/4

Many will be paying attention to the college sports world today, but the majority of those people will focus on college football. I'm here to drop a few plays for you that discuss the college basketball world. One that has seen some great games so far this year. Let's get to it.

Tennessee at Colorado

The #13 ranked Volunteers travel to take on the Colorado Buffaloes who are 6-2 on the young campaign. Tennessee is averaging about the same number of points scored per game as Colorado, however, their defense has been better and is limited opponents to just 63 points per game. It isn't that Colorado has been terrible on defense though. They are allowing 70 points a game. The reason I like Tennessee to cover this short -5.5 spread, is they move the ball effectively on offense and can get stops when needed. The only loss, and it was an ugly one, came at the hands of one of the best teams in the country, Villanova. I'll lay it with the Vols today.

Alabama at Gonzaga

This likely won't be the only loss that Alabama has today in the athletic program. Gonzaga, now ranked 3rd in the country, takes on the number 16 ranked Crimson Tide. I believe this is the only ranked matchup of the day and it features two teams that could make a decent run in the tournament. Gonzaga has the players we know about, and we know what to expect from them. Alabama has a guy in Jaden Shackelford who can put the ball in the basket with relative ease. Overall, his shooting has been fairly inconsistent, but he's putting up and in a lot from beyond the arc. Both these teams are going to score, I'm taking the over, and it is a bit high, but I'll play it at 161.5 -115.

Loyola at DePaul

Loyola has been making a name for itself in the basketball world for a few years now. Today they take on a DePaul school just across town that has been irrelevant in basketball for quite some time. This year, though, they are 6-0 on the campaign and led by Senior Javon Freeman-Liberty who is willing them to win each night. The concern I have today is that they haven't really played anyone that good, at least not as good as Loyola is. Loyola has two losses both were to bigger named programs (just because they are bigger names doesn't mean they are good, I recognize that). I'm taking DePaul on the moneyline in this one. I feel that they will get it done with their rebounding and defense. If I had to put money on the total, I'd be inclined to play the under, but my play is DePaul +152.