One of the more interesting college basketball betting strategies is the “unranked team at home against ranked opponent” for conference games. In 2023 we’ve seen that trend be very profitable, especially in the Big 12. The Thursday, January 26th NCAAB betting slate has plenty of opportunities to test this strategy:
#7 UCLA (-5) at USC, 9:00 PM ET
We’ve got a rivalry game as well as an unranked team hosting a ranked conference opponent in the UCLA vs USC matchup for January 26th. The Bruins have gone 8-1 in conference but the Trojans are a respectable 6-3 in the Pac-12, with one loss coming against #8 Arizona and another being a 60-58 defeat at UCLA – all three of USC’s conference losses are on the road and they are 9-1 at home this season.
#1 Purdue (-5) at Michigan, 9:00 PM ET
Purdue has risen back to the #1 spot in the AP Top 25, but they avoided the unranked team at home against ranked opponent when they visited Minnesota and blew them out 61-39. The Golden Gophers are the worst team in the Big 10, but many people have the Boilermakers on upset alert in Ann Arbor after Purdue only beat Maryland 58-55 at home on Sunday.
#8 Arizona (-5) at Washington State, 9:00 PM ET
Is Arizona in a letdown spot heading into their meeting with Washington State on Thursday night? The Wildcats just outlasted UCLA 58-52 over the weekend to hand the Bruins their first Pac-12 loss. Arizona lost at unranked Oregon 87-68 in their last road game and Washington State picked up a 74-61 win in Tucson as +12 point underdogs when they played the Wildcats on January 7th.
Unranked Team at Home Against Ranked Opponent Summary
We will update these scores after the game and monitor the trend moving forward to see if it is one worth implementing as a regular NCAAB betting strategy.
