College Basketball Picks For November 9th – NCAA Basketball Banter & Best Bets Recap
The College Basketball Experience (@TCEonSGPN) on the Sports Gambling Podcast breaks down every game on the College Basketball slate on Monday, November 9th. Colby Dant (@TheColbyD), Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac), and Noah Bieniek (@NoahB77_) discuss their favorite games and give out their best bets.
Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) and Noah Bieniek (@NoahB77_) look back at Sunday’s game balls and break down college basketball picks for November 9th, a 33-game Monday headlined by Syracuse and Indiana in Indy. Both lock Indiana minus 4.5, and both ride South Carolina State plus 190 as the moneyline dog.
Eleven Days On The Road And A Hot Start
Ryan McIntyre called in from a St. Louis hotel on day 11 of a road trip that started at JMU. He drove 12 hours out of Lubbock that morning, so the tank was close to empty. But his picks still landed on the picks page all weekend. He also thanked Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) and the rest of the crew for covering while he and Colby Dant (@thecolbyd) were on the road for college football. Noah Bieniek joined from his family cabin, where he is babysitting new floors on shaky Wi-Fi. Then he dropped the good news. Noah opened the season with six winning days out of seven.
Sunday was a give and take. Noah went 3-0 on his best bets, and his only loss was the Idaho State moneyline against Arizona. Mac had that one too, so they ate it together. USC also covered by the hook over Wichita State, depending on your number, after a late free throw sequence. Noah cashed that one. Then Houston, laying 17.5, won by 18 for another Noah winner. Mac had Cal +19.5 in the same game, so both sides of that sweat paid. Mac called his own day slightly in the green, though it felt more like a .500 grind.
Game Balls For Virginia, Boise State And Richmond
Noah’s first game ball went to Virginia, and it was never close. UVA turned the Arkansas game into roughly a 30-point blowout midway through the second half. Five players scored in double figures, and Chance Mallory was very good. Their big man posted a 16 and 10 double double down low, and Grunloh blocked five shots. Noah had talked himself into the Razorbacks because of their athleticism. But Arkansas is young, and Virginia owned the rim all game. Mac saw the same thing. Virginia has size and experience, and that matters in November.
Mac handed his first game ball to Boise State, which put up 100 on Butler. It was his favorite play on the board and would have been his top lock on the previous night’s show. Even so, he did not see a 26-point lead and a cruise coming. Noah added the portal angle. Damari Wheeler-Thomas, last year’s starting point guard for Summit League champ North Dakota State, dished six assists. Dovydas Butka, Campbell’s best player last year, went for 14 and 14. So Leon Rice got real production from his transfers against a Big East team in game two.
Richmond earned the next game ball, beating Temple 79-53 at the Palestra with five guys in double figures. Jamie Kaiser, now on his third stop after Maryland and Butler, went for 16 points and eight boards. Noah admitted he doubted Mooney’s portal group early. His best teams usually lean on continuity and returning production. Noah also shared tough news. Jack McCaffrey, son of Fran McCaffrey, has taken a medical leave from coaching after a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. Both hosts sent their thoughts and prayers, and Mac hopes he gets healthy soon.
The rest of the game balls came quickly. Cal State Bakersfield beat North Dakota State 91-80, and Jayden Alexander scored 41. That also won Noah a lock battle with Huff. Tennessee Tech knocked off Western Kentucky, a potential Conference USA front-runner, in Tobin’s first Division I game. Then Green Bay went into St. Thomas and won, while Mac had locked the Tommies, of course. Green Bay is now 2-1. William & Mary dropped 104 on Norfolk State. Nobody on the Tribe played more than 23 minutes, and they won the glass 46-29.
Quinnipiac earned a mention for its comeback. Vermont led by nine with 11 minutes left, and Quinnipiac still won 79-76 on the road. Then Noah tipped his cap to Siena, who beat a Princeton team he backed. Princeton got double figures from two guys and very little from anyone else. Mac also shouted out the road dogs that cashed. Brown won at Lehigh, and Sacred Heart won at New Hampshire as a short dog. Manhattan won at Maine, and Central Connecticut won at Dartmouth getting 8.5, a line Mac still cannot explain.
Double Lock On Indiana Against Syracuse
The marquee game is Syracuse against Indiana in Indianapolis, and Mac will be there with Huff. It is not a true road game for Syracuse, but the crowd should lean heavily Hoosier. Mac called it a statement game for DeVries in a big year. Indiana has not played anybody yet and has not covered a number. So this is the spot to get it done. Jerry Mack also gets his first big spotlight game on national TV. Mac locked the Hoosiers, and Noah locked them too for a double lock.
Noah’s case starts with the Syracuse backcourt. Through two games, the Syracuse coach has publicly challenged his point guards, and that spot has not produced. Syracuse also looked shaky in the opener against New Haven. Meanwhile, Marcus Burton has been one of the best players on the floor for four straight seasons. Bryce Lindsay and Aiden Sherrell add more talent, and the bench has three or four four-star players. Noah thinks the number creeps toward seven. Mac bets it closes at 6.5, so grab Indiana -4.5 while it lasts.
Lock Battles And Lines That Reek
The first lock battle of the night is Minnesota at Cincinnati. Mac locked Cincinnati as a get-up spot for Jared Calhoun’s first big home crowd. Noah fired back with Minnesota +7.5, because the Gophers start four upperclassmen and return three starters. They also added Kyan Evans, who ran the point for Medved at Colorado State two years ago. Then the history came up. In their one Mountain West season together, the two coaches split, each winning at home. Utah State won by eight, and Colorado State won by 27. Mac is taking another eight-point Calhoun home win.
Then the board hit a line both guys hated. Chicago State is laying points at home to South Carolina State after pulling one upset. Mac locked the Bulldogs on sight, and Noah joined with a lock and the moneyline. Noah likes the coaching edge and calls it a letdown spot after a rare Chicago State non-conference win. The moneyline sits at +190. Mac also locked Cleveland State +12.5 at Bowling Green. KenPom has that game at eight, and Mac wants to fade Todd Simon as a big favorite. Noah noted that 13 is out there too.
The play that grew on both of them is UNC Greensboro +20 at UIC. Mac connected the coaching tree. Ehsan worked for Haas at UAB and took over when Haas got the Stanford job. After UAB fired him, Ehsan joined Haas again at Stanford. Now the student is laying 20 to his old boss, and KenPom only has it at 15. Noah agreed and made it a double lock, pointing to the Spartans’ experienced, portal-built top seven. His projection is Greensboro losing by about 12. The line opened at 20, and 20.5 is out there if you shop.
Oakland’s travel got its own segment. They took a red-eye to the Bay Area, played Stanford, then bussed six hours to Santa Barbara and got beat. Next came another red-eye from LAX to Atlanta and a bus to Tuscaloosa. After Alabama, they head to Boise to play Wednesday. Mac called it a MEAC or SWAC schedule for a team that beat Kentucky in the tournament two years ago. He locked Alabama, because a third game in four nights against that pace is a recipe for a blowout. Noah still took Oakland +32.5. This team gets up for big games, so he has them losing by about 28.
Mac kept firing after that. He locked Tennessee over Radford and Oklahoma over North Alabama. Coastal Carolina got one too, with Mac expecting a double-digit win over Upstate. He also put single locks on Illinois State at Purdue and Eastern Washington at Oregon State. Charlotte +5.5 at Seton Hall is his solo lock, and he thinks the Niners are live outright. Both hosts like Portland +7.5 against Hawaii in the standalone island game. Meanwhile, Noah’s solo lock is Alabama A&M +23.5 at DePaul. KenPom only has DePaul by 21, and the Bulldogs have scored 90 and 103 in two games.
Locks And Dog: The College Basketball Picks For November 9th
Mac’s three locks start with Indiana -4.5 in Indianapolis. Then comes UNC Greensboro +20.5 at UIC on the Haas and Ehsan connection. His third is Rice +17.5 at Stanford, a line that opened at 19.5. Rice just lost at home to East Texas A&M, so Mac sees a foxhole bounce on the road. He is not bought in on Stanford, either. His moneyline dog is South Carolina State at +190, because Chicago State laying 5.5 makes no sense to him. Mac admitted the long drive had him mixing up a few games, but the card itself is clear.
Noah’s card overlaps plenty. He also rides South Carolina State +190 as his dog, with a sprinkle on +5 to cover. His favorite bet is Indiana -4.5 on the talent gap and the Syracuse point guard questions. Then comes Greensboro +20.5, because when has Greensboro ever caught 20 against UIC? His last lock is Minnesota +7.5 at Cincinnati. He does not see Calhoun as 7.5 points better than Medved, and he likes how the Minnesota roster fits. Kyan Evans already knows Medved’s system, so take the Gophers and the points.
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:00 Welcome to the College Basketball Experience
06:44 Game Balls: Virginia, Boise State & Richmond
26:27 Syracuse vs. Indiana Picks
30:12 Marshall vs. Ohio State Picks
31:37 Howard vs. Penn Picks
34:06 Minnesota vs. Cincinnati Picks
37:13 Gulf Coast vs. Georgia Picks
38:35 Cleveland State vs. Bowling Green Picks
39:48 Grambling vs. Texas Picks
40:50 North Florida vs. Miami Picks
41:44 Coastal vs. Upstate Picks
43:19 South Carolina State vs. Chicago State Picks
44:42 Radford vs. Tennessee Picks
46:09 North Dakota vs. Clemson Picks
47:24 Stonehill vs. Columbia Picks
48:03 Wagner vs. UConn Picks
49:12 Kansas City vs. Jacksonville Picks
50:29 E-I-E-I-O vs. Notre Dame Picks
51:32 Greensboro vs. UIC Picks
54:52 Jackson State vs. Mississippi State Picks
56:13 Oakland vs. Alabama Picks
1:00:03 FAMU vs. UAB Picks
1:00:34 Edwardsville vs. Missouri Picks
1:02:30 Louisiana Tech vs. LSU Picks
1:03:51 Boston vs. Northwestern Picks
1:04:39 Monroe vs. A&M Picks
1:05:21 North Alabama vs. Oklahoma Picks
1:06:39 Illinois State vs. Purdue Picks
1:08:32 Charlotte vs. Seton Hall Picks
1:09:36 App State vs. Auburn Picks
1:10:49 E-Dub vs. Oregon State Picks
1:11:59 Valley vs. Washington Picks
1:12:27 Rice vs. Stanford Picks
1:14:24 Portland vs. Hawaii Picks
1:17:53 Alabama A&M vs. DePaul Picks
1:20:36 Locks and Dog
1:25:04 Sign-Off & Socials
