Mississippi State Bulldogs (14-3) @ Kentucky Wildcats (14-3)
Game# 603-604

The college basketball betting odds at 5Dimes is currently listing Kentucky as a 6.5-point favorite over their SEC rival.

#8 Kentucky is coming off last Saturday’s 2-point road win over #16 Auburn. The Wildcats also know they’ll be hosting a storied college basketball program in #9 Kansas this upcoming Saturday. Sandwiched between those 2 games is today’s matchup against a Mississippi State team that they’ve defeated 10 consecutive times. This is certainly a potential flat spot for Kentucky when taking into account they’ve already faced a mentally grueling schedule.

This will be a first time all season long in which Mississippi State will be an underdog. The Bulldogs only 3 losses during their 2018-2019 campaign have all come by 6 points or fewer, and that includes an overtime defeat at South Carolina.

Despite these teams owning identical records, Mississippi State is presently ranked 14 spots below Kentucky in the AP Poll. Obviously, Mississippi State is sorely in need of a marquee win, and they’ll have a golden opportunity to do so at Rupp Arena. Nevertheless, I’m not going to be greedy and will gladly take the points.
Pick: Mississippi State +6.5

Bowling Green Falcons (13-5) @ Eastern Michigan Eagles (8-10)
Game# 611-612

At this present time, Bookmaker is showing Eastern Michigan as a 1.5-point favorite in this battle of MAC teams.

What immediately jumped out at me when handicapping this game was four of Eastern Michigan’s 8 wins have come against the likes of Rochester College, Goshen, Central State, and Siena Heights. None of those teams play at the Division 1 level, and subsequently makes the Eagles record 4-10 versus teams that compete at the highest level. Furthermore, Eastern Michigan has lost 9 of their previous 13 games with 2 of those wins coming against non-division 1 opponents.

Bowling Green will enter today’s game riding a red-hot 9-game win streak, and they also covered all 8 lined contests during that stretch. The Falcons have been offensively dynamic throughout their last 5 contests in averaging 86.1 points scored per game while converting on an extremely impressive 43.1% of its 3-point attempts and going 76.6% from the free throw line. Additionally, Bowling Green ranks #26 nationally in field goal percentage defense and #1 in offensive rebounding.
Pick: Bowling Green +1.5

Central Michigan Chippewas (14-4) @ Akron Zips (10-8)
Game# 613-614

At the time of this writing, BetOnline is displaying Akron as a 6.5-point favorite over Central Michigan.

Akron is just 2-3 in conference play thus far and they failed to cover on each of those occasions. The Zips have struggled offensively during their previous 5 games while averaging only 62.0 points scored per contest and they shot a dreadful 37.7% over that stretch. Akron is also a bankroll draining 0-7 ATS in their last 7 home games versus an opponent with a winning record.

Central Michigan is coming off a home loss to Ball State in their previous outing. However, the Chippewas have gone a perfect 3-0 this season following a defeat. They’re a prolific scoring offensive team which is averaging 86.3 points scored per game which is 8th best on a national scale and have 5 players that average 10.9 points or more per contest. Moreover, Central Michigan is a noteworthy 4-1 in true road games.

The Chippewas will have too many answers on the offensive end for an Akron team who will be hard pressed to match their firepower. I’ll take the generous amount of points allotted to me for one of my college basketball picks.
Pick: Central Michigan +6.5

Ross Benjamin is a top sports analyst and one of the sports industry's most respected handicappers. Follow him on Twitter: @RossBenjamin1 or visit his website at RBWins.com