Our Staff’s 4 Best Bets for Thursday (Jan. 12)

During college basketball conference play in January and February, Thursday’s are typically owned by the mid-majors.

But there’s still plenty of spots to find betting value.

Our staff is targeting four different plays this Thursday, so dive in below to get their top college basketball odds, picks and best bets.

Thursday’s 4 College Basketball Best Bets

The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball staff is targeting from Thursday’s slate of games. Click the team logos for one the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.

Coastal Carolina vs. Old Dominion

By Tanner McGrath

The Monarchs are in a pure sandwich spot here. They barely pulled out an overtime win over Georgia Southern and are preparing for a road matchup with Marshall (which is likely still the best team in the Sun Belt).

Meanwhile, the Chanticleers could use a victory. They’re coming off three straight losses, including most recently dropping a road game to Marshall. Given Marshall is likely still the best team in the Sun Belt, this will be a nice step down in talent.

Both teams play similarly, too. Coastal plays more up-tempo, but neither team shoots 3s, instead playing on the interior while crashing the offensive boards.

On defense, both teams pack it in and allow plenty of 3-point attempts, although I don’t expect the 3 to be much of an issue here.

Instead, I expect this game to devolve into a rock fight, with both defenses packing it in against two interior-based offenses.

Also, Old Dominion is looking for a get-in-and-get-on-the-plane-to-Huntington victory.

The Action Network App has tracked sharp and big money on Coastal, with the Chanticleers pulling over 90% of the betting handle despite getting less than 40% of the betting tickets.

I’d still play this at +7 (-110) or better, but likely a little smaller, as projections make the line right around there.

Lindenwood vs. SEMO

By Keg

The Lindenwood Lions look to avoid dropping below .500 in conference play on Thursday night when they travel to Southeast Missouri State.

The Redhawks are 2-2 in conference play and are coming off a big win over Little Rock in which they led from the 11-minute mark of the first half on.

There’s no denying that Lindenwood is one of the worst offensive teams in the nation. However, its defense has been the best in conference play so far, specifically when it comes to defending on the perimeter.

The Lions have held teams to 30.7% from 3 all season and have been even better in their last five, allowing just 27.9% from deep.

Against the Redhawks, their defense on 3s from above the break will be key, as SE Missouri State is taking 34.4% of its field goal attempts from the region.

Lindenwood ranks in the 97th…