College action across both basketball and football dominate the holiday weekend. Let’s check out the college basketball slate for the last Saturday of 2023. Here are the College Basketball Picks for December 30th.
College Basketball Picks December 30th
Penn at Houston (-27) (O/U 132)
If there is anything more consistent than Houston under then we would love to know. No reason to stray away now as the Penn Quakers head to Kelvin Sampson’s team. Houston plays particularly well at home defensively, where opponents struggle to score. The over is predicated upon Houston scoring.
Penn would be wise to limit possessions for the Cougars. The over has hit in three of the Cougars games this season, and two of those were against Utah and Texas A&M.
The Ivy League opponent today isn’t on their level offensively, with all due respect to the Penn Quakers. Expect a slow game and limited possessions for both teams. Houston is too athletic for this Penn team to score effectively. It may require 80 plus from the Cougars to get there. A total they don’t surpass often this year.
The Pick: Under 132
USC at Oregon State (+8) (O/U 140.5)
I’m taking this one back to Corvallis, where we cashed on the Bruins over the Beavers on Thursday. USC is full of talent but inconsistent as well. Boogie Ellis leads the team in scoring for the Trojans but struggles to get buckets at times. The Beavers couldn’t hold off the Bruins on Thursday, but this is too many points for the Trojans to lay on the road.
USC is just 5-7 covering the spread this season with two straight-up losses as double-digit favorites. Oregon State and USC both boost great numbers on the over as well. Both taking the points and the over are solid plays. More confidence in this Beavers team off a close conference loss to get right against USC.
The Pick: Oregon State +8
