March 13 CBB Lines

The Tuesday, March 2 lines are live on BetRivers.com, and with Selection Sunday just 12 days away, teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble are running out of time to pick up the wins they need to boost their resume. The Tuesday night college basketball slate is loaded with marquee matchups and crucial bubble games.

BetRivers is an online sportsbook where you can place your bets on College basketball, and follow the latest odds, lines and predictions.

Rob Dauster, a longtime national college basketball writer, and co-founder of the Field of 68 Podcast Network breaks down the March 2 CBB lines and the bets he likes the best.

March 2 CBB Lines: Boosted Bets

  • Baylor to win & Over 150 total game points. Was +195. Now +220.
  • Michigan, Michigan State, & Purdue all win. Was +273. Now +325.

RELATED: How to bet on or against Gonzaga

COLLEGE BASKETBALL ODDS: MARCH 2 CBB LINES

#3 BAYLOR (18-1, 10-1) at #6 WEST VIRGINIA (17-6, 10-4), 5 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Baylor -182, WVU +150
SPREAD: Baylor -4
OVER/UNDER: 148.5 points
Click here for the full list of Baylor-WVU odds.

This one is pretty simple to me: Baylor is coming off of a shutdown where eight players on the roster tested positive for COVID. They looked terrible against Iowa State and won. They only looked slightly better against Kansas and lost by 13. And now they get to head out on the road and take on a West Virginia team that can run the floor, jack up threes and put pressure on a defense with the best of them.

I don’t see how you can be on Baylor in this spot. I think the West Virginia moneyline at (+165) is worth a long look.

#4 ILLINOIS (18-6, 11-4) at #2 MICHIGAN (18-1, 13-1), 7 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Michigan -286, Illinois +235
SPREAD: Michigan -6.5
OVER/UNDER: 145.5 points
Click here for the full list of Michigan-Illinois odds.

Since I sat down and started writing today’s column, this line has actually started to come down. I’m assuming that this is because Ayo Dosunmu was seen at shootaround in pictures posted by the official Illinois twitter account, which has led to speculation that a frontrunner for National Player of the Year will be returning to the lineup after a two-game absence.

We can debate whether or not there is truth to this of if it is just a bit of gamesmanship from Illinois.

What I won’t debate, however, is the fact that the Wolverines are the best bet of the night in this matchup, whether the line is -6.5, -8 or -10.

I really do believe that Michigan is just an awful matchup for Illinois here. For starters, like we saw against Iowa, Hunter Dickinson has the ability to be really, really big, and handle one of the best low-post scorers in college basketball all by himself on the block. If he can do it against Luka Garza, he should at least be able to hold his own against Kofi Cockburn. And if he can hold his own against Kofi in the paint, it changes the dynamic of this Illinois team.

Now, to be clear, Illinois has more outlets for shot creation than Iowa does. Andre Curbelo and Ayo Dosunmu can create off the bounce. But Michigan has as good of a perimeter defense as anyone in college basketball with the quintet of Mike Smith, Eli Brooks, Chaundee Brown, Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner. More importantly, Michigan is going to have a massive size advantage on the perimeter without the detriment of being at a mismatch off the dribble. Illinois’ best five features 6-foot-4 Ayo Dosunmu essentially at the four spot. Michigan can play three big wings that are all 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-10.

I think it will take foul trouble for Dickinson, a Herculean effort from Dosunmu and a lights-out shooting night from the Illini role players for Illinois to be able to win this game.

And that’s certainly within the range of outcomes here.

But at (-6.5), I think there is too much value on the Wolverines at this price. That’s where I’ll be invested tonight.

INDIANA (12-12, 7-10) at MICHIGAN STATE (13-10, 7-10), 8 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Michigan State -157, Indiana +132
SPREAD: Michigan -3
OVER/UNDER: 135 points
Click here for the full list of Michigan State-Indiana odds.

Both of these teams have their backs against the wall.

Michigan State is coming off of a beatdown at the hands of Maryland, ending a two-game winning streak that saw them pick off Illinois and Ohio State in the span of four days. Indiana, on the other hand, has lost three in a row, a streak that started when they blew a double-digit lead at home to these very same Spartans. With a 12-12 record and a 7-10 mark in the Big Ten, this is it. It’s win or go home time for Archie Miller’s club, and considering the fact that there is no guarantee that Armaan Franklin is going to play, I just don’t see how you can back the Hoosiers in a clear bounce-back spot for Sparty.