College Basketball Opening Night Odds

Tonight is Opening Night in college basketball. There are some great match-ups in some interesting places. The defending champion Kentucky Wildcats will be meeting the Maryland Terrapins in Brooklyn at the new Barclay’s Center. Military bases from Jacksonville, FL all the way to Germany will be hosting some of the game’s top teams.

5Dimes has odds on the following games:

Michigan State vs Connecticut– This game is being played in Germany. UConn will be without coach Jim Calhoun who retired in the offseason. They’ll also be without a lot of their stars who transferred to other schools upon hearing the Huskies won’t be going to the post season this year. The Huskies are +8.5 in this one. We are going to go with the Spartans -8.5. The Spartans are going to be one of the contenders again this year.

Ohio State vs Marquette– This game is being played on the USS Yorktown. Ohio State  is -6.5 -110. Aaron Craft is back to lead the Buckeyes this year. Ohio State is one of three Big Ten teams in the AP top five. Marquette has to replace Jae Crowder and others from last year’s Sweet Sixteen team. We like the Buckeyes -6.5.

Georgetown vs Florida– This will be on the USS Bataan stationed in Jacksonville. Georgetown is +5  in this one. Florida is ranked in the top ten. They have Patric Young, Erik Murphy and returning from last year’s Elite Eight squad. We are going  to go with Florida -5 in this one.

Maryland vs. Kentucky– Maryland is +11. UK is starting over again but they are starting over with five blue chip players. Catching the Kats early is a good idea as they get better as the season goes along. We are going to go with the Terps +11.

Oddsmaker has odds on these games:

Tulane at Georgia Tech– Tulane is +5. Tech was awful last year and likely will be again this year. We’re going with the Green Wave +5.

South Alabama at Florida State– The Seminoles will have to replace a lot of talent from last year’s squad. But the AP thinks enough of their returning talent to rate them #23. The Jaguars are +14but we are going with the Seminoles -14.

Louisiana Tech at Texas A&M– The Bulldogs and Aggies played a football game that looked like a good basketball score. Thye besketball game isn’t likely to measure up. The Aggies are -7 in their first game as a member of the SEC. We are going to take Texas A&M -7.