If you’re reading this, there’s a non-zero chance that you’re either snowed in, iced in, or in a deep freeze. We only have 25 games on the Friday slate, but there’s not much else to do. Let’s toss a little action on college hoops while the weather outside is brutal. We’ve dug through today’s schedule and found three plays that you’ll want to lock up. Let’s go through it.
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College Basketball Preview, Picks, and Best Bets for January 23
Matt Dewoskin ATS College Basketball Picks Record (Est 11/3/2025)
All Selections: 120-108-3
Perfect 3-0 Cards: 12-65
UMass at Buffalo
Start Time: 7:00 PM EST
UMass enters this game with a 12-8 overall record and a 1-3 mark on the road. The Minutemen are 8-11 against the spread overall and 1-3 ATS on the road.
Buffalo comes into this matchup with a 13-6 overall record and a 6-3 mark at home. The Bulls are 11-6 ATS overall and 4-3 ATS at home.
These two teams have never played each other before. UMass has won three of its last four games, with its only loss at Northern Illinois. Buffalo has dropped four straight games, including home games against Kent State and Akron. Buffalo is in a stretch of their schedule in which they play most of the top half in the MAC.
When looking into the metrics, Buffalo has the better shooting team, the better free-throw shooting team, and the better team at turning over the opposition. UMass is better on the defensive side, but they have to travel to a strange gym for the first time, while Buffalo gets to shoot in their own building. The Minutemen dial up from deep often, and the one area that Buffalo’s defense isn’t terrible at is defending the perimeter.
Buffalo comes in off four straight losses and needs a win. They’ve been tough in their own building and are catching points against a UMass team that allows opponents to hang around. Buffalo wins this outright, but grab the 1.5 points just in case. If this jumps up to 2.5, even better.
Best Bet: Buffalo +1.5
Fairleigh Dickinson at Central Connecticut State
Start Time: 7:00 PM EST
Fairleigh Dickinson comes into this game with a 6-13 overall record and a 1-10 mark on the road. The Knights are 6-10 overall ATS and 3-8 ATS on the road.
Central Connecticut State enters this matchup with a 10-7 overall record and a 5-1 home mark. The Blue Devils are 9-6 overall ATS and 1-3 ATS at home.
Central Connecticut State has won six straight matchups in this series. The Blue Devils have covered five of the last six games against Fairleigh Dickinson. CCSU has won four of its last five, and is off a loss at Mercyhurst. The Knights have dropped three of their last five games, including a road loss at New Haven.
Fairleigh Dickinson is legitimately bad on the offensive side. The Knights are 358th in the nation in shooting percentage, 345th in points per game, and 330th in three-point shooting percentage. Fairleigh Dickinson is offensively challenged, especially on the road. The Knights aren’t much better on the road. They allow opponents to shoot over 38.0% against from the three-point line. CCSU is a top-50 team in the nation from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils should have an easy time on offense and get stops on the defensive end.
CCSU is the better team in this matchup by a wide margin. This line is a little short because the Blue Devils are off a bad loss to New Haven, but this is a smash spot. Central Connecticut State should win this by double digits. Lock up the Blue Devils to win and cover in a smash play.
Best Bet: Central Connecticut State -6.5
Marquette at Butler
Start Time: 8:00 PM EST
Marquette comes into this matchup with a 7-13 overall record and a 0-6 mark on the road. The Golden Eagles are 5-15 overall ATS and 1-5 ATS on the road.
Butler enters this game with a 12-7 overall record and an 8-3 mark at home. The Bulldogs are 11-8 overall ATS and 6-5 ATS at home.
Marquette has won six of the last seven games in this series, but only covered four games. The Golden Eagles just broke a three-game losing streak with a one-point win over Providence. Butler has won two games in a row, including a seven-point win over DePaul in a game they were laying 6.5 points.
Taking Marquette as an underdog has been a system play, but this version of the Golden Eagles is so poor that the system is broken. Butler just won and covered a similar spread against a better DePaul team. They’re laying only 7.5 against a Marquette team that has yet to win on the road? The line is respecting Marquette more than it should.
This Marquette team is one of the worst defensive versions of this team in a long time. The Golden Eagles are 272nd in points allowed and 229th in shooting percentage allowed this year. Marquette can generate turnovers, but they do it does so at the expense of giving up a lot of quality looks to opponents. Butler capable shooting team, and should have no problem getting shots to fall against Marquette. Butler should win and cover with ease. Lock up the Bulldogs to steamroll Marquette in this spot.
Best Bet: Butler -7
The College Basketball Experience
For more analysis on every college basketball game for the 2025-26 season, make sure you tune into The College Basketball Experience. Colby Dant, Moneyline Mac, and Noah Bieniek talk about each game on the entire slate. Listen for input on ATS and moneyline college basketball picks every night!
