Looking to finish off January strong as the conference standings are starting to take shape. In the heart of conference play, the calendar turns into February. We will be looking at brackets before you know it. Here are my College Basketball picks for January 29th!
College Basketball Picks January 29th
Duke at Virginia Tech (+3) (O/U 146)
Duke is battling injury and depth issues that have seemed to catch up to them. There seems to be more concern than optimism within the fan base. Duke is 1-3-1 as an away favorite and hasn’t covered ATS in their last four games.
Duke has a quick turnaround here, heading to Blacksburg to do battle with a Virginia Tech team that isn’t where they anticipated.
Virginia Tech has recovered from a stretch where they lost four out of five games and now have a three-game winning streak to their name. Tyrese Proctor was able to get to the free throw line with 1 second left on Saturday to survive a scare against Clemson.
If we look ahead, then everything tells us that Duke is in another bad spot. They have the matchup with North Carolina looming on the schedule. Backing the Hokies with the points against the Blue Devils.
Blacksburg will bring the energy tonight, and the Hokies can get hot from three. Tyler Nickel is the X-factor tonight. The sophomore transfer from UNC has been giving teams fits off the bench.
The Pick: Virginia Tech +3
Houston at Texas (+5) (O/U 130.5)
Houston can look like the best team in the county if they play every game like they did vs Kansas State on Saturday. However, they’re still new to the Big 12, and they start a two-game road trip on Monday. Houston is 2-2 on the road this season. This road trip to Texas and Kansas will test the Cougars.
This is a bit of a look-ahead spot for the Houston Cougars with Kansas on deck. The Jayhawks are nipping at their heels for positioning in the Big 12 standings.
Jon Rothstein tweeted that the Cougars are holding opponents to 54 ppg during their four-game winning streak.
That streak is in jeopardy tonight. We are backing the Texas Longhorns while acknowledging that the Cougars are the far better team. Court storm warning down in Austin tonight as another top 10 team is laying points as a conference road team.
The Pick: Texas + 5
