NCAA College Basketball: Arizona State @ Oregon State

Added on Jan 16, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

Our busy day at the sportsbook continues as we look at one of nearly 100 college basketball betting opportunities on the board for Saturday. Pac 10 conference play heats up as high flying Arizona State heads north to take on a middle of the pack Oregon State team. Despite a 13-5 SU mark for the Sun Devils this season, this is by no means an easy game despite the Beavers less impressive 8-8 SU record.

Arizona State at Oregon State
January 16, 3:30 PM Pacific

It’s tough going if you look to regularly play favorites in competitive college basketball conferences, and that’s doubly true if you are thinking about laying points on the road. Arizona State’s 13-5 SU record translates to a significantly less impressive 6-8 ATS mark this season. On the road, they’re 1-3 ATS. It’s been awhile since they’ve been a road favorite in this price range, but dating back to 1997 they’re 1-5 ATS as a road favorite of -3′ to -6 points.

Oregon State, meanwhile, has been a license to print money for college basketball pointspread players so far this season. The Beavers are 9-2 ATS, 3-1 ATS at home and a perfect 6-0 as an underdog. They’re also 7-0 ATS against teams with winning records, so its not like they’ve been beating up on bottom feeders. They’ve also covered five of their last six games as a home underdog of +3′ to +6 points.

From a matchup perspective, Arizona State has an abundance of jump shooters in the lineup and they’ll not get many easy looks against a defensively tenacious Beavers team. Both teams make extensive use of a 1-3-1 zone, and Oregon State may actually run theirs better than Arizona State. On the other end of the floor, their familiarity with the defense will allow their guards to get the penetration they need to score. We like the Beavers to pull the outright upset here and getting +5′ points makes it a great college basketball betting value.

Bet Oregon State +5′ over Arizona State