Best College Basketball Bets & Predictions Today: March 3
Get NCAAB college basketball predictions, best bets & odds for today & tonight's games (March 3), including East Carolina vs Tulane.
With complete college basketball odds for every game today, there’s never a break in NCAAB betting at BetMGM.
Below you can find best bets, win predictions and analysis for the games everyone will be watching on Friday.
College Basketball On TV Today (March 3):
There are 31 college basketball games involving Division I teams scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, with many of them broadcast on linear or digital television.
Top college basketball games on TV today include:
- Gardner Webb vs USC Upstate at 2:00 PM ET on ESPN+
- The Citadel vs Mercer at 5:00 PM ET on ESPN+
- Akron vs Kent State at 6:00 PM ET on ESPNU
- Toledo vs Ball State at 6:00 PM ET on ESPN3
- Campbell vs Longwood at 6:00 PM ET on ESPN+
- Dayton vs Saint Louis at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2
- East Carolina vs Tulane at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN+
- North Dakota vs Denver at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN+
- Southeast Missouri State vs Morehead State at 8:00 PM ET on ESPNU
- Winthrop vs Radford at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN+
- Bowling Green vs Ohio at 8:00 PM ET on CBS Sports Net
- Nebraska-Omaha vs UMKC at 8:30 PM ET on ESPN+
- Tennessee-Martin vs Tennessee Tech at 10:30 PM ET on ESPNU
- New Mexico vs Colorado State at 11:00 PM ET on FS1
Best College Basketball Bets Today
Every day, I’ll handicap games early in the morning (east coast time) and provide a short explanation as to why I like them.
East Carolina vs Tulane (-12.5), Analysis
This is a play on the total for me. This late-season American game opened at 152.5 and is now up to 155.5.
The line movement is even more interesting in the context of the rematch. East Carolina and Tulane just played on Wednesday in Greenville, and they’re now playing again at Tulane.
Importantly, that game went under the posted total (156) by five points. However, if you actually watched the game, there were a lot of points left on the board. Both teams shot less than 40% from the floor, and they left a combined 16 points unmade at the foul line.
ECU, for its part, shot 5-for-19 (26%) from deep.
About 65% of tickets are on the under, but sharp bettors are driving reverse line movement here because they know the game is due for some offensive regression back to the mean.
East Carolina vs Tulane Prediction:
Play: ECU/Tulane Over 155.5. Sharp action will continue to push this number higher, so bet it early.
tulane-vs-east-carolina-03-03-2023
UT-Arlington vs Seattle (-8.5), Analysis:
Regular readers know I like to take my cues from the market, but the market can just as easily price a game out too far.
I believe that’s what’s happened here in this WAC game, where Seattle has already been bet up three points and counting against UT-Arlington.
Seattle is clearly the better team here, so a number like 5.5 makes a lot of sense. But once this number starts creeping toward 10, there’s a lot of market-created value in buying back in on the other side.
I like the 8.5 that’s available at the BetMGM online sportsbook right now, but the Arlington number could be even more favorable later in the day. Because this game tips at 10 p.m. on the east coast, there’s a lot of time left to let the market create additional value on the Arlington side.
UT-Arlington vs Seattle Prediction:
Play: UT-Arlington +8.5. Hold out for the best possible number, then bet the Mavericks.
College Basketball Best Bets
One of the things I look for in identifying daily college basketball betting spots is a high total that moves up another four to seven points thanks to sharp money.
I also like to look for contrarian favorites – those games that make you say, “Wait, why is that team favored?” – and ugly dogs who are getting too many points.
It’s also helpful to understand that underdogs of six or more are inherently valuable. Basketball doesn’t have key numbers quite like football does (3, 7, 10, etc) but 5.5 is about the next closest thing.
If you watch a lot of college basketball, it’s easy to imagine how a team up by just one point with 20 seconds left could end up covering a short number like -5 thanks to all the free throws at the end.
Once you have a favorite of -6 or more, though, those gaps start getting harder and harder to cover with just end-game nonsense.
That’s something to keep in mind when identifying valuable favorites or underdogs.
Who are you betting on today in college basketball? Bet on them risk-free at BetMGM using the offer below!
Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.
