College Basketball Best Bets: Three Favorite Picks for Thursday, March 2

Our college basketball best bets are back! March is here and our college basketball best bets are back for a big night on Thursday, March 2. 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 great day 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, Illinois Fighting Illini, Wisconsin Badgers, Purdue Boilermakers, Arizona State Sun Devils and UCLA Bruins.

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College Basketball Best Bets for Thursday, March 2

Michigan Wolverines vs. Illinois Fighting Illini - 7:00PM ET

It has been a wild couple of days for Illinois basketball. Yesterday it came to light that their only point guard, Jayden Epps, was hospitalized and diagnosed with a concussion. While that news broke, star forward Matthew Mayer also shared that he missed practice due to a self-proclaimed "caffeine overdose".  Odd times in Champaign. Now Brad Underwood welcomes in Juwan Howard and Hunter Dickinson, who have never beaten Illinois in their careers, but are desperate for a win. Michigan is playing great basketball right now, winning six of their last eight games and three in a row. Without Kofi Cockburn and with all the question marks, we recommend taking the points.

BET: Michigan +5 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

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

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Wisconsin Badgers vs. Purdue Boilermakers - 9:00PM ET

Wisconsin is another desperate bubble team welcoming a huge resumé-boosting opportunity. The Badgers have alternated wins and losses for their last eight games. Purdue, meanwhile, has not played their best ball over the last month. The Boilermakers have lose three consecutive away games in Big Ten play, and the Kohl Center will certainly be rocking. Wisconsin has played their best game this season against the best of the best. They are 3-0 against the spread against top 20 teams, with a huge win at Marquette, a win vs. Maryland and a one-point overtime loss to Kansas. Matt Painter is just 3-7 in his last 10 games at the Kohl Center. We like the Badgers.

BET: Wisconsin +4 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook

🏀 Wisconsin vs. Purdue Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Wisconsin vs. Purdue

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Arizona State Sun Devils vs. UCLA Bruins - 9:00PM ET

11.5 is a ton of points. Arizona State has now covered 11.5 points in seven of their last eight games vs. top 50 opponents. The Sun Devils have elevated their game against the better opponents they have seen this season, defeated Creighton and winning on the road at Arizona. Metrics love this UCLA Bruins team, but they have let worse teams than Arizona State hang around. In the last month, Washington, Oregon, Stanford, Utah and Colorado have all covered 11.5 points against UCLA recently. The Sun Devils are desperate, and we like their chances to cover.

BET: Arizona State +11.5 (-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
🔥 Wisconsin +4
🔥 Arizona State +11.5

*All odds and lines correct at time of publishing