December 20 CBB lines

An exciting weekend of college basketball is upon us, and BetRivers.com has the latest December 20 CBB lines. The Sunday schedule features a handful of exciting conference matchups including Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State taking on No. 11 Texas, and NO. 9 Creighton heading to UConn for the first time as Big East rivals.

Place your college basketball sport bets online at BetRivers.com, the best online sportsbook in the US.

Rob Dauster, a longtime national college basketball writer, and co-founder of the Field of 68 Podcast Network, analyzed the December 20 CBB lines, and is here to break down the numbers that matter in the key matchups.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL ODDS: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20 CBB LINES

MARQUETTE (5-3) at XAVIER (7-0), 2:00 p.m.
MONEYLINE: Xavier -143, Marquette +120
SPREAD: Xavier -2.5
OVER/UNDER: 140.5 points
Click here for the full list of Xavier-Marquette odds.

I had been planning on finding a way to be able to bet on this Xavier team moving forward. I do think that they are relatively undervalued by the market. They had a bit of a slow start, one that saw them struggle with some mid-majors in the very early parts of the season, but they’ve backed that up with a blowout win over Oklahoma and a win over Cincinnati in the Crosstown Shootout.

But that last game was back on Dec. 9th. They had to pause due to positive COVID tests, and that pause only ended on Friday. This wasn’t like Gonzaga or Baylor, either. Xavier wasn’t doing anything. Marquette, on the other hand, has played three games in that span, and while they are 1-2 in those three games, they do have two wins that are better than anyone Xavier has even played.

It’s also a decent buy-low spot — they are coming off of a loss — while Cincinnati and Oklahoma have not exactly been overly impressive the last week.

So I’ll be on that Marquette ML at (+120).

#9 CREIGHTON (5-2) at UCONN (3-0), 12 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Creighton -180, UConn +148
SPREAD: Creighton -3.5
OVER/UNDER: 147.5 points
Click here for the full list of Creighton-UConn odds.

Using some of the same logic, Creighton (-3.5) seems like a decent play as well. UConn has been paused twice already this season, with the most recent one lasting a week and ending last Monday. They did not play a game this week due to positive tests in their opponent’s programs.

The problem here is that the matchup, to me, says UConn. The Huskies can pound the offensive glass, a place where Creighton has not exactly thrived. They have the athletes and the defensive versatility to be able to run Creighton’s shooters off of the three-point line. They have the defenders to be able to slow Marcus Zegarowski down. And their biggest weakness — fouling too much — is mitigated against a team that doesn’t draw fouls; Creighton isn’t driving to the rim, they’re shooting threes.

So if I’m going to be on anything here, it’s probably going to be the UConn ML at (+135). This is the second straight east coast road game for Creighton and their third game in six days. Their legs are going to be just as rubbery as UConn’s.

OKLAHOMA STATE (6-1) at #11 Texas (6-1), 2:00 p.m.
MONEYLINE: Texas -295, Oklahoma State +230
SPREAD: Texas -6.5
OVER/UNDER: 141.5 points
Click here for the full list of Oklahoma State-Texas odds.

Cade Cunningham against one of the best defenses in college basketball?

Yes, please!

The problem?

Oklahoma State really does not have all that much around Cade. The Boone brothers have been good in flashes. Isaac Likelele has not been quite the second fiddle we thought he would be. As a team, the Cowboys are shooting just 30.7 percent from three, a number that drops to 28.6 percent when you factor out Cade’s shooting numbers.

It’s basically the Cade Cunningham Show, which is fine, until you go up against a team that can guard the way Texas can guard. Throw in the fact that this line has come down from (-8) and I’m fine fading the public here.