College Basketball Picks for Tuesday January 6th: Top CBB Bets

Is everyone comfortably back in the swing of things post-holidays?

I bet most of you reading this probably had New Year’s Day and Friday the 2nd off, meaning you just returned to work Monday. College hoops stars returned last week too, as the ACC, Big 12 and SEC got their conference seasons into full swing on or before Saturday.

There are some big games on tap Tuesday, so let’s do an all-college hoops breakdown of three bets we like tonight:

No. 6 Duke at No. 20 Louisville

One person who didn’t have a happy holidays is Louisville star freshman Mikel Brown Jr., who hasn’t played since Dec. 13 due to back spasms and went from being “probable” to “out” two games ago at Cal. The Cardinals are coming off a loss to Stanford as they are narrow home dogs against the Blue Devils.

Duke has its problems -- it only beat Georgia Tech and Florida State by a combined 10 to start ACC play -- but the Blue Devils contain what Louisville does well. They take away the perimeter, allowing just 30.3% on 3-pointers, and Louisville lead dog Ryan Conwell is in a funk right now, shooting just 29.4% from deep the past four games.

Duke -1.5, -104 (FanDuel Sportsbook)

No. 14 Texas Tech at No. 7 Houston

Now let’s talk about the only team that’s beaten Duke: The Red Raiders of Texas Tech. There’s a team that’s firing on all cylinders right now, with a forward in JT Toppin who’s reminding everyone why he was an All-American last year. Toppin’s 23 points and 14 rebounds powered Tech to a 102-80 win over Oklahoma State, but all five starters scored at least 12.

They run into the buzzsaw that is the Houston defense, but the problem is the Cougars have struggled to score this past week: 67 points in a win over Cincinnati, and before that, 69 points to beat... Middle Tennessee. You can find Texas Tech to win outright between +230 and +245 if you’d like, but for now we’re focusing on this spread that feels a bit disrespectful to a top-15 team in the country.

Texas Tech +6.5, -110 (BetMGM)

Syracuse at Georgia Tech

Whoever made Syracuse’s schedule for them this year makes me laugh. The Orange played a game against Drexel in Philadelphia that counted as a neutral court. They went 0-3 at the Players Era tournament in the cavernous arenas of Las Vegas. But it’s taken until now, six days into January, for them to play their first true road game!

I wouldn’t bet on a group of college kids that are facing a real crowd disadvantage for the first time this season even if they were a good team. But Syracuse is just 7-7 against the spread, including 1-4 in the last five. Georgia Tech is a far better rebounding team and should get several more shots as a result. This is the home dog of the day without a doubt.

Georgia Tech +2.5, -102 (DraftKings)