College Basketball Best Bets: Three Favorite Picks for Thursday, January 12

Our college basketball best bets have been scorching hot, and following a 3-0 sweep yesterday, we are back looking for more winners in college basketball on Thursday, January 11. We're looking to give you some winning best bets using a combination of key stats and trends, as well as some artificial intelligence from our DimersBOT NCAA basketball predictions. With that said, keep reading so that we can help you narrow down what you should be taking on a solid Thursday of NCAA basketball betting. If you want insight into our best bets to win the NCAA National Championship, you can check out our best CBB futures. Today we lock in on games involving the Michigan Wolverines, Iowa Hawkeyes, Gonzaga Bulldogs, BYU Cougars, Washington Huskies and Stanford Cardinal.

If you haven't already, you should consider signing up for DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️ as you can turn a $5 pre-game moneyline bet on any game into a free $200 if your team wins. 

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College Basketball Best Bets for Thursday, January 12

Michigan Wolverines vs. Iowa Hawkeyes - 7:00PM ET

Since the start of January, Michigan has played like the 8th best team in the country, and that includes their ugly 52-point outing in a loss to their rival Michigan State over the weekend. Their offense is too good to go cold two games in a row, and they have had success on the road at Iowa before - they won here last season to turn their year around.

This line feels a bit inflated given Iowa's 2-0 week last week, but this was a broken team just a week ago. They were down 21 points at home to Indiana before Race Thompson went down to injury, sparking a huge Hawkeye comeback. They had lost to Wisconsin and Eastern Illinois in back to back home games before that. Without Patrick McCaffery back, there's value on the Wolverines.

BET: Michigan +5.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏀 Michigan vs. Iowa Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Michigan vs. Iowa

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Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. BYU Cougars - 9:30PM ET

Speaking of value, a week ago this line likely would have been Gonzaga -9 or -10. Then the Zags went on the road at beat San Francisco by just two points and Santa Clara by just five points. This is their third road game in a row, but the caliber of talent here is just too sizable not to take a shot that the Zags figure it out. They have won nine straight, including a 10-point win against Alabama, who looks like one of the best in the country.

BYU has been a bit underwhelming this year. They lost by 15 points at home to Utah Valley. They have the 24th best defense in the country, but their offense pales in comparison and we just don't see how the Cougars score enough to keep up in this one.

BET: Gonzaga -6.5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏀 Gonzaga vs. BYU Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Gonzaga vs. BYU

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Washington Huskies vs. Stanford Cardinal - 11:00PM ET

Earlier this week, we backed St. John's as small home favorites, while they were on a five-game losing streak, and it paid off. We're going to do the same here with Washington, who hasn't won a game recently but all their losses have come to great teams (three of the five against top 20 teams in the country). They nearly took down Arizona at Arizona, and they are 7-1 vs. teams outside of the Kenpom top 100 on the season.

Stanford on the other hand, looks like a team who is comfortable losing. They are 0-4 in road games this season, and they just lost by 22 points to Cal, who is nearly 100 spots lower on Kenpom than Washington. Stanford is a whopping 0-9 against teams in the Kenpom top 150 this season, and we expect that to continue to haunt them tonight.

BET: Washington -2 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

Best College Basketball Parlay Today

There are numerous different ways you can wager on College Basketball games in 2023, such as the moneyline, spread, total, player and team props, and, of course, parlays. While we normally suggest taking our picks on their own, we also really love parlays! With that said, check out the fat payout you can get by throwing all of our best bets together tonight. 

🔥 Michigan +5.5
🔥 Gonzaga -6.5
🔥 Washington -2

*All odds and lines correct at time of publishing