NCAA Betting Report: Injury Mars Latest Court Storming

When looking at our college basketball betting lines, North Carolina is a double-digit favorite against visiting Miami on Monday, with TCU the home favorite against Baylor in Monday’s big games.

James Madison leads all Division I men’s teams with a 26-3 record while UConn, Purdue, Houston, Princeton, and McNeese State are other three-loss teams. Minnesota leads the way with a 23-4 record against Las Vegas College Basketball odds.

Defending national champions UConn (+500), Houston (+750), and Purdue (+750) lead the way in our odds of winning March Madness. Tennessee (+1400), Arizona (+1200), and North Carolina (+1800) are other top contenders. Houston and Purdue remain first and second in the NCAA NET rankings while Arizona, UConn, and Tennessee round out the top five.

Storming the Court About to Be History?

The fact that Wake Forest was favored against visiting Duke or had won the previous home game against the Blue Devils didn’t stop a barrage of fans from storming the court after Saturday’s 83-79 win.

The bigger issue is that Duke’s top player, sophomore Kyle Filipowski was injured while colliding with the Wake Forest fans coming onto the court.

This is not the first time this has happened. Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark didn’t miss any time but she was knocked to the floor by Ohio State fans after the Buckeyes won in overtime last month.

Seeing a high-profile player on a Blue Blood program like Duke getting injured because Wake Forest officials failed to have a plan in place to keep the Duke players from being swarmed by the Demon Deacons faithful has created more attention of fans jumping onto the court after a huge win.

Keep an eye on the status of Filipowski. who is tied for fifth in the national player of the year odds according to our sportsbook. If he ends up being sidelined, the call for change will only intensify.

Duke is just a game behind North Carolina in the ACC standings with four games left for both teams.

What Might Have Been

Nearly half the games played on a wild Saturday were decided by single digits.

There were plenty of anxious moments for those who bet online in some of those contests.

Florida had the ball and a 15-point lead with less than 30 seconds to play before a turnover and a foul enabled Vanderbilt’s Ven-Allen Lubin to hit a pair of free throws as the Commodores covered in the Saturday showdown as a 15-point underdog.

A 3-pointer by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski with 43 seconds to play had Duke in a position to cover as a 2.5-point underdog. A turnover in the final five seconds not only prevented Duke from stealing a win but Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis drilled two free throws as the Demon Deacons covered a NCAA basketball spread of -2½ points.

A dunk in the final minute had Arizona, a 16½-point favorite, in position to cover against Washington. The Huskies scored with 25 seconds left for the back-door cover in Arizona’s 91-75 win.

A Look at the Polls

No. 1 Houston picked up 53 first-place votes. No. 2 Purdue had four No. 1 votes and UConn got the other five. Tennessee and Marquette round out the top five with Tennessee moving up one spot and Marquette jumping up from No. 7.

POLL ALERT: Houston jumps to No. 1 in AP Top 25 shakeup, followed by Purdue, UConn; Utah State, Gonzaga, South Florida join poll.

Full poll: https://t.co/ZJG5mgWrsa pic.twitter.com/hWv6UDdKw6

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 26, 2024

No. 11 Auburn and No. 12 Creighton both moved up three spots while Baylor dropped from 11th to 15th and Dayton went from 16th to 21st.

Game of the Week

No. 7 Kansas vs No. 15 Baylor

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW, ESPN+)

Two of the last three national champions get together for the second time this season.

Kansas won 64-61 in Lawrence when visiting Baylor missed a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers in the closing seconds. Baylor has won its last three home games against Kansas and covered in the last two.

The Jayhawks are in third place in the Big 12 race while Baylor is one of three teams tied for fourth in the standings so this is more about March Madness seeding than making a run at the Big 12 regular-season title.

Player of the Week

Kam Jones, Marquette

The junior guard had scored a combined total of 36 points in his previous three games, but he picked things up offensively after a loss to No. 1 UConn.

Jones had back-to-back 34-point games in wins over DePaul and Xavier. He was 23-of-32 from the field and 14-of-20 from 3-point range. He also had just one turnover in those two games.

Team of the Week

Purdue Boilermakers

The last time Rutgers went on the road to face Purdue, things didn’t go well for the host Boilermakers. It is safe to say that things were a little different this time around.

The Boilermakers never trailed on the way to a 96-68 win as Purdue hit 12-pointers while Zach Edey had 25 points in 27 minutes. Things were a little trickier when the Boilermakers went on the road to face Michigan, but they found a way to stave off the Wolverines’ upset bid before 35 points from Edey.

Nationally Televised Matchups From Top-10 Teams

1. Miami at No. 9 North Carolina, Monday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
2. Cincinnati at No. 1 Houston, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
3. No. 11 Auburn at No. 4 Tennessee, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
4. Providence at No. 5 Marquette, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
5. Louisville at No. 10 Duke, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
6. No. 6 Arizona at Arizona State, Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
7. No. 7 Kansas at No. 15 Baylor, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET (ABC)
8. No. 5 Marquette at No. 12 Creighton, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
9. North Carolina State at No. 9 North Carolina, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)
10. Virginia at No. 10 Duke, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)
11. No. 1 Houston at Oklahoma, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
12. Michigan State at No. 2 Purdue, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (FOX)
13. No. 4 Tennessee at No. 14 Alabama, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
14. Seton Hall at No. 3 UConn, Sunday, noon ET (CBS)

Questions Of The Day