It’s still early in the college basketball season, but this Tuesday slate is probably the best slate we’ve seen yet this year. Let’s go over some of the best games of the day, and find some winners on this glorious CBB Super Tuesday…

The Hokies are coming off back to back losses in the Battle 4 Atlantis. After garnering a ton of hype preseason, it was disappointing to see Virginia Tech struggle against St. Mary’s and VCU, but they have a much easier opponent to face on Tuesday. 

South Carolina doesn’t have anybody who can keep up and guard Neoklis Avdalis, the 6’7 point guard from Greece. Amani Hansberry has a great matchup as well down low, as the Gamecocks don’t have an impressive big to counter him with. Expect the Hokies to end their two game skid, and pull off the upset on the road against a South Carolina team that nearly lost to Southern Miss earlier this season.

For the first time in a couple of years, there’s a lot of excitement around the Syracuse basketball program. It’s mainly because of Carmelo Anthony’s son, Kiyan Anthony, who’s currently averaging 12 PPG through the first 7 games of his career. Don’t sleep on Donnie Freeman, either. The 6’9 sophomore from Washington DC is averaging close to 20 PPG so far this season, but the Orange will face their toughest test of the season tonight as they welcome in the Vols…

Carmelo Anthony’s son might be playing in this game, but Ja’Kobi Gillespie will be the best player on the floor tonight. The Maryland transfer has been one of the best players in the country so far this season, but I could see the Vols getting off to a slow start offensively tonight in their first true road game. Rick Barnes’ squads always play defense, and I’m expecting a much lower scoring game than the total indicates. Tennessee has overperformed offensively to start the season, currently 6-2 to the over this year. Tonight is the perfect time to sell high on their offense, and bank on their defense showing up at Syracuse…

Two undefeated teams face off in East Lansing tonight, for one of the best matchups of this loaded Super Tuesday slate. Typically when you think of an Iowa basketball game, you think of points and overs. This Ben McCollum-led Hawkeyes team operates a little differently than the recent regime. Besides Bennett Stirtz (who is a future NBA lottery pick), nobody on this team averages more than 10 PPG. 

This Michigan State team is physical and big. They are your prototypical tough Coach Izzo squad, and they match up great defensively against Iowa tonight. They have plenty of big bodies to keep the Hawkeyes out of the paint, and some physical guards in Jeremy Fears and Trey Fort who can do enough to limit Bennett Stirtz’ impact on this game. Fade both offenses in this BIG10 matchup tonight, and lock in this under before the total drops any more.

Purdue might have the best team in the country, but Duke has the best player in the country in Cameron Boozer. The freshman and son of NBA-great Carlos Boozer is averaging close to 23 PPG, but tonight, he has his toughest test of his season. Fading the best player in college basketball isn’t for the faint of heart, but tonight is the night to do it…

Florida hasn’t been great so far this season. Everyone expected this Gators team to be just as good as last year’s National Championship squad, but they’ve already dropped two games early-on this season. Tonight they face an undefeated Duke squad playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the Gators have the pieces to limit the Blue Devils’ success. 

Duke’s best two players are bigs, with Cameron Boozer and Patrick Ngongba leading the team in points. Florida has plenty of big bodies they can throw at Boozer and Ngongba, including Thomas Haugh (their best player), Alex Condon, Reuben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten. All four of these bigs are 6’9 or taller, as the Gators have plenty of size and physicality to hang with the undefeated Blue Devils. With the Gators’ spread catching steam and moving from +9.5 to +8.5, snag the Gators on the spread before it gets any shorter.

Speaking of Purdue… anyone noticing the steam Rutgers is catching against the #1 ranked team in the country tonight? The Boilermakers opened up -16.5 at the Jersey Mike’s Arena tonight, and are now only -13.5 on the spread. What does Vegas know? 

I’m taking Rutgers on the spread mainly because they should be +23.5, not +13.5. With a slew of young talent, Rutgers doesn’t hang with Purdue on paper at all, but this is a sleepy lookahead spot as the Boilermakers play Iowa State on Saturday. Don’t be surprised if Dylan Grant, Tariq Francis and the Scarlet Knights keep this game within single digits.

Missouri is one of the few undefeated teams left in college basketball, but they are now underdogs against Notre Dame on the road tonight. That is some serious respect for the Irish tonight, who initially opened up slight underdogs but have since been steamed to short favorites at home. 

Could the lime movement have something to do with Mizzou having the second easiest schedule in the country up to this point? Notre Dame is in a much different boat, coming off close battles with Houston, Rutgers, Kansas and Ohio State. The Irish are battle-tested and have come through in sharp spots like this at the Purcell Pavilion over the years… let’s trust Markus Burton, one of the best players in the country, to come through on the moneyline tonight.

The Jayhawks are barely underdogs at home tonight without one of the best players in the country Darryn Peterson in the lineup. That is some line respect for a Kansas team that has already lost twice this season. UConn, on the other hand, is coming off a big win against Illinois last week. This could be the perfect time to buy-low on the Jayhawks and sell-high on the Huskies coming off that big win…

UConn returns Braylon Mullins into the rotation tonight, and might even get star big man Tarris Reed Jr. back as well. If both of these guys return to the floor for the Huskies, and they are only 2.5 point favorites, this smells like a fishy line to me. Flory Bidunga is a stud forward for Kansas, and he can limit Alex Karaban and Eric Reibe’s success down low in this contest. Fade UConn with their good news of returning players, and buy-low on Bill Self as an underdog at home without their best player. Allen Fieldhouse is still one of the toughest places to play in the country, with or without Darryn Peterson.

Nobody’s talking about this new and improved Miami basketball team. After hiring Jai Lucas and bringing in a slew of transfers, the Hurricanes are off to a great start so far this season. Ole Miss, on the other hand, is coming off back to back losses after starting undefeated. They are only 1-6 ATS, and just lost outright to a struggling Utah team. 

I am higher on this Miami team than most, but I don’t think it’s a great matchup for Malik Reneau, Tre Donaldson and the Hurricanes tonight. Ole Miss is in a great buy-low spot, coming off back to back losses, and they have a much deeper roster, playing 10 guys for more than 10 minutes a game on average. Back Ilias Kamardine (who played professionally overseas the last couple years), AJ Storr and Malik Dia to end their mini-slump and get a much needed win at home. I like the new hire for Miami, but I’m giving the advantage to Chris Beard and the Rebels in this one.

The Tarheels opened up +8.5 underdogs, and are now only +6.5 on the spread. How often do you see line movement against Kentucky at home? This shortening spread is very telling, and I’m riding with Caleb Wilson (one of the best freshman in the country) and the Tarheels on the road tonight against the Wildcats. 

Kentucky has a talented roster as always, but they are too inconsistent. They are also coming off two blowout wins, but they were playing against Tennessee Tech and Loyola-Maryland. UNC, on the other hand, is coming off a brutal loss to Michigan State where they only scored 58 points. I’m not a fan of Hubert Davis, but this is the best roster he’s had in years at UNC. Back the Tarheels to bounce back and potentially pull off the upset on the road against Mark Pope and Kentucky tonight. This game will go down to the last possession.

Would you be surprised if I told you the Oregon Ducks are 0-7 ATS so far this season? Coach Altman’s squads are typically slow starters, but three outright losses at this point of the season is unacceptable for Oregon. After returning their two best players from last season, it just hasn’t clicked yet for the Ducks. They might be without Nate Bittle tonight once again, which makes this short spread even weirder…

The USC Trojans have looked like one of the best teams in the country up to this point. Rodney Rice, the former Hokie and Terripan, has been a star for Coach Musselman, and Chad Baker-Mazara might be pushing 30 years old at this point. Both of those guards are averaging over 20 PPG, but there’s a good chance the Trojans are without Rodney Rice in this game. With both teams’ best players questionable, I’ll side with the home team getting a couple points in a must-win spot. If the Ducks fall to 4-4, questions are going to be asked about Coach Altman’s future in Eugene, Oregon. This is a must-win game for Oregon… back them on the spread and expect Jackson Shelstad to be a steady presence for the Ducks tonight.